Coroner Talk | Death Investigation Training | Police And Law Enforcement

But having a preparedness mindset is critical as an investigator. We get used to the day-to-day calls and never put a lot of thought into the time we will be thrust into a large investigation. Whether that be a large, emotionally draining investigation or one that might be, or seem to be, above our ability to manage. We can never prepare for everything. But we can do a lot to prepare for the unexpected. In this episode, I talk about having a preparedness mindset and how to prepare for the unexpected. This is an excerpt from a larger online course but is packed with real training and ready-to-use advice. Check out the online course at this link. https://www.ditacademyonline.org/courses/prepardness-mindset    

We have revamped an old idea into an interactive monthly newsletter—best of all, it's totally free.    To learn more and subscribe, go to deathinvestigatormagazine.com       

Support Services staff are trained professionals from various fields, including medicine, mental health, and law enforcement. The team is committed to providing sincere and compassionate support at a pace survivors are comfortable with. We maintain the highest level of confidentiality. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In the event of a death, Summit County provides support services to family and friends of the decedent. Services can include counseling, emotional support, financial assistance for burials, advocacy, help with paperwork, and referrals for other types of assistance. To learn more about the Summit County, Colorado Program, go to https://summitcountyco.gov/1102/Survivor-Support To learn more about the Death Investigation Academy and see what course you might be interested in, go to https://ditacademy.org/

Check out the online course here: https://www.ditacademyonline.org/courses/Suicide-and-Self-Harm An initial exam while still on the scene is imperative for the overall determination of cause and manner of death as well as collecting time sensitive facts and evidence. This exam is only the first of two external exams. This one being on the scene and the second one at autopsy. The on-scene exam documents what the investigator sees and what wounds, scars, tattoos, etc., are present on the body. At this stage, much of the trace evidence used in a case will either be located or preserved for future collection.    

Check out the online course here: https://www.ditacademyonline.org/courses/Suicide-and-Self-Harm Victimology is the collection and assessment of any significant information as it pertains to the victim and his or her lifestyle. Investigators must know the victim and complete a victimology study on every suicide, you cannot properly investigate a death without it.  Ultimately you need to find out, in detail, who the victim was and what was going on at the time of their death. The best source of information will be friends, family, employers, and neighbors. Your goal is to get to know the victim better than they knew themselves.  

Check out the online course here: https://www.ditacademyonline.org/courses/Suicide-and-Self-Harm Suicide deaths account for nearly 46,00 deaths in the United States, about one death every five minutes.  The number per year has continued to grow for the past several years.  Investigators face many challenges in this death, including when to rule a death a suicide and what degree of certainty must be obtained before making that ruling.  More information and statistics can be found on the website at:  coronertalk.com To learn more about the Death Investigation Academy, go to ditacademy.org   

Mid-Week tips are short episodes designed to give advice, tips, and ideas that can make your job easier and make you a better investigator. Some may be practical, and others may be experience-based opinions. To learn more about the podcast go to coronertalk.com To learn about our Academy and what courses we have that can prepare you for a career in the area of death investigation or to hone skills you currently have, go to ditacademy.org to learn more.  

Mid-Week tips are short episodes designed to give advice, tips, and ideas that can make your job easier and make you a better investigator. Some may be practical, and others may be experience-based opinions. To learn more about the podcast go to coronertalk.com To learn about our Academy and what courses we have that can prepare you for a career in the area of death investigation or to hone skills you currently have, go to ditacademy.org to learn more.  

Mid-Week tips are short episodes designed to give advice, tips, and ideas that can make your job easier and make you a better investigator. Some may be practical, and others may be experience-based opinions. To learn more about the podcast go to coronertalk.com To learn about our Academy and what courses we have that can prepare you for a career in the area of death investigation or to hone skills you currently have, go to ditacademy.org to learn more.  

Mid-Week tips are short episodes designed to give advice, tips, and ideas that can make your job easier and make you a better investigator. Some may be practical, and others may be experience-based opinions. To learn more about the podcast go to coronertalk.com To learn about our Academy and what courses we have that can prepare you for a career in the area of death investigation or to hone skills you currently have, go to ditacademy.org to learn more.  

Mid-Week tips are short episodes designed to give advice, tips, and ideas that can make your job easier and make you a better investigator. Some may be practical, and others may be experience-based opinions. To learn more about the podcast go to coronertalk.com To learn about our Academy and what courses we have that can prepare you for a career in the area of death investigation or to hone skills you currently have, go to ditacademy.org to learn more.  

Put simply, IGG describes the process of using information about genetic similarities and known family relationships to generate investigative leads. The basic information used in IGG falls into two categories: genetic relative information, which is generated by a genetic genealogy database based on its internal comparison of SNP profiles in the database; and genealogical and other often publicly accessible information, such as information from census records and obituaries, that describes family relationships. Law enforcement integrates these two categories of information to develop family trees and then identifies and investigates high-likelihood suspects within those trees. Thus, IGG comprises two steps that are book-ended by standard police work. According to best practices, when an offender leaves a biological sample (e.g., blood or semen) at a crime scene, an accredited forensic laboratory first generates an STR profile from that sample, which is called the ‘forensic sample.’ If there are no suspects, t

Mid-Week tips are short episodes designed to give advice, tips, and ideas that can make your job easier and make you a better investigator. Some may be practical, and others may be experience-based opinions. To learn more about the podcast go to coronertalk.com To learn about our Academy and what courses we have that can prepare you for a career in the area of death investigation or to hone skills you currently have, go to ditacademy.org to learn more.  

In this episode, Darren and Wendy discuss the Evolution and challenges of locating and notifying NOK in a transient society. With the modern age we live in it is getting harder to located next-of-kin in some cases.  Issues such as homelessness and a transient lifestyle of a deceased can create huge obstacles.  In addition to the victim being mobile, the family may not stay in one place for very long causing public records to search to be a failed lead.  We give tips on locating NOK as well as some cautions to ensure you are not caught up in a legal backlash when new family members appear and want to know why they were not notified.       

In this episode, Darren and Wendy discuss the good and bad of Social media as it relates to death investigations.   Social media can be a big help in certain areas and a huge obstacle in others.  We discuss the pros and cons and give some caution in how best to use and manage social media in your investigations.

Due to the very nature of sudden and/or violent deaths, many things can and do go wrong in the first few hours after discovery.  Death scenes have a way of bringing together many individuals with various responsibilities and experiences.  This unique group can consist of uniformed officers, detectives, crime scene investigators, forensic experts, coroner investigators, medical examiner investigators, as well as prosecutors and police administrative staff.   These scenes may also have fire and EMS staff or other agencies trying to do their jobs, not to mention families and onlookers.  Because of this often chaotic scene, errors can happen. Let's look at the ten most common mistakes of a death investigation. 1. Improper Response and Arrival to the Scene First, responding officers may not correctly respond to and secure the scene and the immediate surrounding area.  Uniformed officers may not stop or detain people leaving or milling around the scene. Further, while waiting for investigation and CSI teams

In this episode, Wendy and Darren discuss the laws surrounding doctors prescribing suicide prescriptions and other forms of suicide assistance. Find all available training at.  ditacademy.org       

High altitude illness (HAI) is the current accepted clinical term for a group of disorders including acute mountain sickness (AMS), high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), and high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), which occur in travelers visiting high-altitude locations. High-altitude illness is due to hypobaric hypoxia, is not associated with age or physical conditioning, and mild forms are easily treated. High-altitude cerebral edema and HAPE are medical emergencies that are fatal if not promptly treated and fortunately are uncommon. The cause of most high-altitude fatalities is not related to HAI and can be easily distinguished from HACE and HAPE; however, other causes of death may have symptoms and physical findings that overlap with HAI, making postmortem diagnosis challenging. Fatalities due to HAPE and HACE are diagnoses of exclusion. Medical examiners and coroners who work in jurisdictions with high-altitude locations should be aware of the risk factors, physiology, pathology, differential diagnosis, an

I wish you all a very happy and fun summer 2021.  We are taking a break this year through the summer months and will return in September with an all-new line-up and shows.  Be a blessing and be safe!