Offering Professional Instruction to Certified Law Enforcement Agencies in the Processing of Crime Scenes in the Marine Environment
GOALS
-To train key individuals within each target country in international standards and protocols for conducting defensible investigations of nearshore marine natural resource violations.
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-To enable participants to determine investigative strategies, gather evidence in a forensically sound manner and process that evidence.
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-To enable participants to identify responsible parties and bring criminal suspects to court.
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-To successfully bring a beneficial conclusion to the case whether criminal or civil litigation, mediation and/or habitat restoration.
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-To further the protection of natural resources and improve public education and awareness.
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-To further the cooperation between local, regional, national and international law enforcement entities in natural resource protection cases.
METHODS
The MCSI model is based upon a hands-on approach to learning. The cadre of instructors is a mix of academically trained instructors recognized as leaders in the field of chemistry, wildlife forensics, ecology, coral reef habitat and restoration. The remaining instructors are current or former sworn law enforcement officers ranging from a background as diverse as the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The law enforcement instructors have been involved in wildlife investigations throughout their careers and their experiences range from Coral and wildlife smuggling to shark finning investigations and more.
This unique mix allows innovative approaches to investigations including applying money laundering, organized crime and racketeering charges to natural resource cases.
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Students are given classroom instruction in techniques that they will be using in the field and throughout their careers, they then participate in and subsequently process their own crime scenes. Approximately 60 percent of their time is spent in outdoor hands on scenarios in actual conditions that they would encounter in real field work.
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Students are provided with the appropriate tools needed to successfully complete the class. These specialized forensic investigative packs contain over 250 items ranging from evidence bags, scales, gloves, various test kits and more which they can take with them to use for conducting investigations for their agencies in their home countries.
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Students are expected to work some evenings and weekends.