When I read this story about a man who teaches people how to pass a polygraph test, I thought of my own multiple experiences with being polygraphed.
Regular readers know that I preach reliable / repeatable science. Polygraph exams are not scientific, they're art forms. They're investigative tools. I remember my last test. Here I am, all 6'7" and 345 lbs, with a blood pressure cuff that doesn't fit so it's down around my wrist, pneumo-tubes that are stretched beyond belief around my very large chest, and squirming in a special chair that I don't fit. I'm thinking, if the apparatus makes me this uncomfortable, and I can't sit comfortablly, how is this reliable or repeatable?
It's a game. It's a trick. The device is not a "lie detector." It just registers your biorhythms. It's the examiner who chooses to quiz you and drill down into certain questions. It's an investigative tool - nothing more.
To me, training someone to pass a polygraph is the same as those books that teach novice Photoshop users to pass the Photoshop ACE exam. It's hard for me to take the government seriously on this. Polygraph exams are tricks, nothing more. They play their games, and the examinee plays his. Fair's fair, I guess.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Shooting Incident Reconstruction
Over the weekend, I was honored to be invited to attend a Shooting Incident Reconstruction seminar taught by local firearms expert, Dr. Bruce Krell, PhD. I wasn't sure if I could spare the time to make it to the class, but the course announcement really got me interested. Here's a snippet:
During the morning, we will be in an air conditioned classroom.
During the afternoon, we will be out on a private shooting range.
NOTE: We don’t take a lunch break. The range does not have food facilities.
Bring your own lunch and plan to eat during the last half hour of the lecture.
The afternoon session may be hot and may also be windy.
My guess right now is that shorts and t-shirt might be appropriate.
But, bring a sweater in case you are too cold in the classroom.
Wear tennis shoes or hiking boots.
Please bring sun block and a baseball cap or a hat.
Bottled water would also be a good idea.
If you have shooting ear muffs, please bring them.
If not, don’t worry. We will have plenty of the soft ear plugs.
Some of you will be participating in some of the measurement tasks.
Some of you will be participating as actors in some of the reconstructions.
Some of the reconstructions may involve being on the ground, so if
you might be willing to volunteer, dress so that you don’t’ mind getting dirty.
We will be discussing some of the strategies for photo perspectives.
So, I will be taking photos of some sections of the reconstructions.
The first half of the course featured a ton of slides on the math and stats of trajectories, ejector patterns, ricochets, and so forth. He walked the class through several old cases, demonstrating how reconstructions are performed using all of the available reports and on-scene work. Then the class moved up to the range for some practical exercises.
In all, it was an enjoyable class.
If you're in the Los Angeles area and can make it to one of Dr. Krell's classes, you'll get a ton of useful information. Plus, you'll never look at a shooting incident in the same way again.
During the morning, we will be in an air conditioned classroom.
During the afternoon, we will be out on a private shooting range.
NOTE: We don’t take a lunch break. The range does not have food facilities.
Bring your own lunch and plan to eat during the last half hour of the lecture.
The afternoon session may be hot and may also be windy.
My guess right now is that shorts and t-shirt might be appropriate.
But, bring a sweater in case you are too cold in the classroom.
Wear tennis shoes or hiking boots.
Please bring sun block and a baseball cap or a hat.
Bottled water would also be a good idea.
If you have shooting ear muffs, please bring them.
If not, don’t worry. We will have plenty of the soft ear plugs.
Some of you will be participating in some of the measurement tasks.
Some of you will be participating as actors in some of the reconstructions.
Some of the reconstructions may involve being on the ground, so if
you might be willing to volunteer, dress so that you don’t’ mind getting dirty.
We will be discussing some of the strategies for photo perspectives.
So, I will be taking photos of some sections of the reconstructions.
The first half of the course featured a ton of slides on the math and stats of trajectories, ejector patterns, ricochets, and so forth. He walked the class through several old cases, demonstrating how reconstructions are performed using all of the available reports and on-scene work. Then the class moved up to the range for some practical exercises.
In all, it was an enjoyable class.
If you're in the Los Angeles area and can make it to one of Dr. Krell's classes, you'll get a ton of useful information. Plus, you'll never look at a shooting incident in the same way again.
Friday, November 14, 2014
How Courts Miss Bad Forensics
As a follow-up to yesterday's post, I received a link to this story - How Courts Miss Bad Forensics.
This story will really piss you off. It pissed me off. Here are some excerpts:
"Despite Hayne’s impossible workload (over about 20 years he performed on average 1,200 to 1,800 autopsies per year, by his own admission), his lack of board certification, and the fact that he has on multiple occasions given testimony that other medical examiners have said ranged from implausible to malpractice, to date no court has rejected Hayne as an expert witness. While some courts have overturned a handful of convictions that were based on his testimony, they’ve only done so in the most egregious instances. Where Hayne has given plausible testimony, or even implausible-but-not-completely-nutty testimony, the courts have generally refused to intervene.
But if Hayne isn’t a credible witness, he isn’t a credible witness. If he has shown that he’s willing to say outrageous things in a few cases, has lied about his certification, and has been shown to be sloppy and unprofessional in his work, the cases in which he gave plausible but debatable testimony (and was opposed by a more competent medical examiner) should be seen just as tainted as those in which his testimony was transparently ridiculous."
"So far, the courts haven’t agreed. But a two-word phrase makes last week’s ruling different than all of the others.
The evidence shows the witness for Louisiana, Dr. Steven Hayne, a now-discredited Mississippi coroner, lied about his qualifications as an expert and thus gave unreliable testimony about the cause of death.
To my knowledge, this is the first time a court has acknowledged that Hayne has been broadly “discredited.” The acknowledgment is significant because of what the panel does next. Under federal law, in order to obtain a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, a convicted person must show that the evidence is either new or could not have been discovered at trial, that had the evidence been available at trial the jury would likely have convicted, and must file his petition based on the new evidence within a year of when the evidence “could have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence.”
The essence of the ruling in this case is that because the defendant missed a deadline, it simply doesn’t matter that Hayne may not be a credible witness. Shocking and sad.
Read the whole article. See for yourself what happens when the courts fail to police themselves.
This story will really piss you off. It pissed me off. Here are some excerpts:
"Despite Hayne’s impossible workload (over about 20 years he performed on average 1,200 to 1,800 autopsies per year, by his own admission), his lack of board certification, and the fact that he has on multiple occasions given testimony that other medical examiners have said ranged from implausible to malpractice, to date no court has rejected Hayne as an expert witness. While some courts have overturned a handful of convictions that were based on his testimony, they’ve only done so in the most egregious instances. Where Hayne has given plausible testimony, or even implausible-but-not-completely-nutty testimony, the courts have generally refused to intervene.
But if Hayne isn’t a credible witness, he isn’t a credible witness. If he has shown that he’s willing to say outrageous things in a few cases, has lied about his certification, and has been shown to be sloppy and unprofessional in his work, the cases in which he gave plausible but debatable testimony (and was opposed by a more competent medical examiner) should be seen just as tainted as those in which his testimony was transparently ridiculous."
"So far, the courts haven’t agreed. But a two-word phrase makes last week’s ruling different than all of the others.
The evidence shows the witness for Louisiana, Dr. Steven Hayne, a now-discredited Mississippi coroner, lied about his qualifications as an expert and thus gave unreliable testimony about the cause of death.
To my knowledge, this is the first time a court has acknowledged that Hayne has been broadly “discredited.” The acknowledgment is significant because of what the panel does next. Under federal law, in order to obtain a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, a convicted person must show that the evidence is either new or could not have been discovered at trial, that had the evidence been available at trial the jury would likely have convicted, and must file his petition based on the new evidence within a year of when the evidence “could have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence.”
The essence of the ruling in this case is that because the defendant missed a deadline, it simply doesn’t matter that Hayne may not be a credible witness. Shocking and sad.
Read the whole article. See for yourself what happens when the courts fail to police themselves.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
George Reis and the Frye Hearing
Along the lines of who are these people anyways, George Reis writes about his experiences with one of the members of the LA County Superior Court's list.
"That ‘expert’ has testified 25 times in the past, but has had no training in Forensic Video Analysis or in any Comparative Science. His work experience was only peripherally related to video analysis. He does not have any certifications in video analysis, photographic analysis, or anything related to these fields.
His methods in video analysis and in comparisons are not considered best practices by any peers, any forensic organization, or in any publications. Additionally, his comparison method is a method that the Facial Identification Scientific Working Group (FISWG) specifically states is not appropriate for comparisons. Further, he identified artifacts as being features, which the Scientific Working Group for Imaging Technology (SWGIT) points out is something that should not be done."
...
"So, the next time a public defender in Los Angeles needs an expert, he or she will take a look at the approved list and see this expert’s name. That public defender may not have the time to search out the background of that expert, but instead may just assume that because he is on the list, he must be competent. It is a frightening situation. I hope that the LA Superior Courts will review the criteria used for placing (and retaining) individuals onto their experts panel."
...
Wow. Where do we start with the needed reforms?
"That ‘expert’ has testified 25 times in the past, but has had no training in Forensic Video Analysis or in any Comparative Science. His work experience was only peripherally related to video analysis. He does not have any certifications in video analysis, photographic analysis, or anything related to these fields.
His methods in video analysis and in comparisons are not considered best practices by any peers, any forensic organization, or in any publications. Additionally, his comparison method is a method that the Facial Identification Scientific Working Group (FISWG) specifically states is not appropriate for comparisons. Further, he identified artifacts as being features, which the Scientific Working Group for Imaging Technology (SWGIT) points out is something that should not be done."
...
"So, the next time a public defender in Los Angeles needs an expert, he or she will take a look at the approved list and see this expert’s name. That public defender may not have the time to search out the background of that expert, but instead may just assume that because he is on the list, he must be competent. It is a frightening situation. I hope that the LA Superior Courts will review the criteria used for placing (and retaining) individuals onto their experts panel."
...
Wow. Where do we start with the needed reforms?
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
It's free, but ...
On Monday, I wrote about Ski's article on reducing JPEG artifacts. As a follow up, I went to the Foray web site and downloaded their free ForayJPGArtifactReductionTool. It's a saved action file that you can load into Photoshop that automates the steps outlined in Ski's article.
When I loaded the action file, I noticed a few things about the steps that I want to share with you.
When I loaded the action file, I noticed a few things about the steps that I want to share with you.
- All of the work is done to the Background layer. Can you articulate why this is a bad idea?
- The image is resized. Can you articulate why?
- Since all the work is done to the Background layer, how are you controlling the complimentary color artifacts that result from Unsharp Mask? I would have expected that the script would create a copy of the layer and changed the blending mode, or worked in LAB mode and just worked on the L channel.
- You already know how I feel about Auto Adjustments.
I would have hoped that the Layers Panel looked something like this when the action was completed.
Sadly, it wasn't.
So, caveat emptor. Just because it's free doesn't mean you should use it.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
A Toast to the Flag
"A Toast to the Flag"
by John J. Daly - 1917
Here's to the red of it--
There's not a thread of it,
No, nor a shred of it
In all the spread of it
From foot to head.
But heroes bled for it,
Faced steel and lead for it,
Precious blood shed for it,
Bathing it Red!
Here's to the white of it--
Thrilled by the sight of it,
Who knows the right of it,
But feels the might of it
Through day and night?
Womanhood's care for it
Made manhood dare for it,
Purity's prayer for it
Keeps it so white!
Here's to the blue of it--
Beauteous view of it,
Heavenly hue of it,
Star-spangled dew of it
Constant and true;
Diadems gleam for it,
States stand supreme for it,
Liberty's beam for it
Brightens the blue!
Here's to the whole of it--
Stars, stripes and pole of it,
Body and soul of it,
O, and the roll of it,
Sun shinning through;
Hearts in accord for it,
Swear by the sword for it,
Thanking the Lord for it,
Red White and Blue!
To all the readers who have served their nation in armed service in the cause of freedom, many thanks from a grateful populace.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Mitigating Artifacts of JPG Compression in Digital Images
Over on Forensic Magazine, Foray's David “Ski” Witzke attempts to tackle the subject of crappy JPEG images. After reading his very long treatise on using older versions of Photoshop to try and reduce the many problems you'd run into with JPEG images, I'm so glad for my copy of FIVE.
The Deblocking filter works great in reducing the appearance of JPEG blocks. Using FIVE means that I don't have to go through a tortured series of steps as described in Ski's article, with the accompanying mess trying to explain the steps to a jury.
Remember, with FIVE, you get the plain English explanation, the details, the parameters, and the academic reference from which the process/filter is derived all in your report. With FIVE, your report is built in the background as you go.
No offense to Ski. His company sells Photoshop plug-ins (among other things), so he's going to be bound to what Adobe gives him to work with. But, reading Ski's article reminded me how happy I am that I've switched from Photoshop to FIVE for my forensic science work.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Think and Live
Those that know me well know that I train Krav Maga. Krav Maga is the official self defense and hand to hand combat system of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and has evolved to include training for use by Special Forces and paramilitary teams, as well as police and law enforcement, in addition to the general public. The principles that define Krav Maga allow students of all ages, ability, and walks of life to quickly and effectively learn the techniques and skills necessary to deal with violent encounters. Krav Maga’s principles allow an individual to adapt to situations ranging from combat and fighting to street attacks under high levels of stress.
Founded on real world experience and demands, Krav Maga is primarily focused on the use of natural movements and reactions for defense. The goal of Krav Maga is to bring individuals, both men and woman of all body types and physical abilities, to a high level of proficiency in a short amount of time. The natural and intuitive nature of Krav Maga leads to high retention of learned skills, and natural, almost reflexive, deployment in stressful situations. Physical fitness and strength are also part of Krav Maga training, preparing the body and mind for dealing with life threatening situations, and everyday life. Krav Maga is the most effective system that focuses on defending yourself while quickly and effectively devastating your opponent.
It's true that violence is everywhere in our society. The amount and frequency of violent crimes in our big cities are staggering statistics. Awareness is key - being aware of your surroundings. Those of us in law enforcement may get a little self-defense / hand-to-hand training. But, how many continue that training beyond the Academy?
To that end, a friend of mine is producing a set of films to help spread the word about the prevalence of violence in our society and the importance of simple common sense techniques to assure that you're not the next statistic. I encourage you to visit the site featured below. At a minimum, watch the first movie. You'll be glad you did.
If you find it in your heart to do so, join me in supporting this worthy cause. Let's help increase awareness and help prepare folks to face a society that's growing more violent each year.
Thanks.
Founded on real world experience and demands, Krav Maga is primarily focused on the use of natural movements and reactions for defense. The goal of Krav Maga is to bring individuals, both men and woman of all body types and physical abilities, to a high level of proficiency in a short amount of time. The natural and intuitive nature of Krav Maga leads to high retention of learned skills, and natural, almost reflexive, deployment in stressful situations. Physical fitness and strength are also part of Krav Maga training, preparing the body and mind for dealing with life threatening situations, and everyday life. Krav Maga is the most effective system that focuses on defending yourself while quickly and effectively devastating your opponent.
It's true that violence is everywhere in our society. The amount and frequency of violent crimes in our big cities are staggering statistics. Awareness is key - being aware of your surroundings. Those of us in law enforcement may get a little self-defense / hand-to-hand training. But, how many continue that training beyond the Academy?
To that end, a friend of mine is producing a set of films to help spread the word about the prevalence of violence in our society and the importance of simple common sense techniques to assure that you're not the next statistic. I encourage you to visit the site featured below. At a minimum, watch the first movie. You'll be glad you did.
If you find it in your heart to do so, join me in supporting this worthy cause. Let's help increase awareness and help prepare folks to face a society that's growing more violent each year.
Thanks.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
NCMF - Sean Coetzee Memorial Scholarship
This just in from the National Center for Media Forensics:
Sean Coetzee Memorial Scholarship
We are making progress in our fundraising efforts for the Sean Coetzee Memorial Scholarship. So far, $3,500 of the $10,000 goal has been raised from the generosity and effort of many individuals. But we still need your help to meet our goal by extended deadline of December 10, 2014! Tax deductible donations can be made in any amount, and every dollar counts.
This is our first scholarship campaign in honor of our student and colleague Sean Coetzee, who passed away quite suddenly in August 2013. We would be very grateful for your gift to support students who will carry on Sean's legacy. You may use the online donation form at www.cufund.org/SeanCoetzee.
Sean Coetzee was committed to the field of media forensics and his accomplishment during his time in the graduate program at the University of Colorado Denver was outstanding. It was clear to everyone who interacted with Sean that his dedication to and knowledge of the field was not only strong - it was contagious. The Sean Coetzee Memorial Fund has been established at the University of Colorado Denver to support students who demonstrate an appreciation for ethics in media forensics and to carry on the legacy of Sean who cared deeply about the field and helping others to achieve their best.
Thank you for your generosity in helping make the Sean Coetzee Memorial Scholarship a reality!
READ MORE
Sean Coetzee Memorial Scholarship
We are making progress in our fundraising efforts for the Sean Coetzee Memorial Scholarship. So far, $3,500 of the $10,000 goal has been raised from the generosity and effort of many individuals. But we still need your help to meet our goal by extended deadline of December 10, 2014! Tax deductible donations can be made in any amount, and every dollar counts.
This is our first scholarship campaign in honor of our student and colleague Sean Coetzee, who passed away quite suddenly in August 2013. We would be very grateful for your gift to support students who will carry on Sean's legacy. You may use the online donation form at www.cufund.org/SeanCoetzee.
Sean Coetzee was committed to the field of media forensics and his accomplishment during his time in the graduate program at the University of Colorado Denver was outstanding. It was clear to everyone who interacted with Sean that his dedication to and knowledge of the field was not only strong - it was contagious. The Sean Coetzee Memorial Fund has been established at the University of Colorado Denver to support students who demonstrate an appreciation for ethics in media forensics and to carry on the legacy of Sean who cared deeply about the field and helping others to achieve their best.
Thank you for your generosity in helping make the Sean Coetzee Memorial Scholarship a reality!
READ MORE
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