3rd ACR trains Iraqis in investigating techniques

Courtesy Photo | Kris Lulloff, a police officer and primary instructor for the Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facility, Capt. Catherine Hamilton, a staff judge advocate with the Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, investigative judges, and anti-terrorism unit investigators pose for a photo after the completion of a three-day JEFF lab course at the Diwaniyah Appellate courthouse in March 2011. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Mark Cahill)  

DIWANIYAH, IRAQ

03.01.2011

Courtesy Story

3d Cavalry Regiment Public Affairs Office

By 1st Lt. Mark Cahill

DIWANIYAH, Iraq - In a nation where justice used to be administered based upon the whims of a dictatorship, building a legal system based on the rule of law can be a challenge. Yet, that is exactly what the province of Diwaniyah is trying accomplish.

In early March, a group of Iraqi investigative judges and police officers in this southern Iraq province invited law enforcement trainers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment to instruct them in ways to increase their investigative capacity and subsequently improve the capabilities of the Diwaniyah justice system.

Lightning Troop, 3rd Squadron, 3rd ACR, in conjunction with the Diwaniyah Provincial Reconstruction Team and the Kalsu Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facility, scheduled a four-day course held at the Diwaniyah Court House. This course covered basic crime scene investigation, from controlling the scene to processing the evidence, with the intent to provide Iraqi judges and anti-terrorism officers with more tools to combat crime.

The training was designed to equip these officers of the law with the necessary skills to build effective cases based upon more than confessions and eyewitness statements.

The training began with an introduction to crime scene investigation and set the stage for subsequent blocks of instruction. The instructors focused on proper crime scene control, from securing the scene, sketching the area and documenting locations of evidence to protecting that evidence from being contaminated before it could be analyzed.

“The proper recovery of evidence can spell the difference between having a solid case and not having a case at all,” said Mr. Kris Lulloff, JEFF trainer and police officer from Colorado .

U.S. instructors also covered procedures for searching the immediate area around a crime scene, fingerprint and trace evidence analysis, evidence storage and custody procedures and DNA sampling. The trainees not only grasped the material well, but came to realize how important crime scene investigation truly is in modern law enforcement.

“I knew little about crime scenes and evidence before this class, but this course has taught me much, and I hope to continue to learn more,” said Lt. Nabil Hamzah Daud, an officer in the Diwaniyah Anti-Terrorism Unit.

As the training concluded, Iraqi judges who attended the event asked for additional hands-on training to refine their skills. In this southern Iraq province, this training opportunity formed the foundation for future joint training and served as a step forward for the justice system in Diwaniyah.

• Date Taken: 03.01.2011
• Date Posted: 03.21.2011 08:45
• Story ID: 67459
• Location: DIWANIYAH, IQ