An examination of the characteristics of disguised and traced handwriting

There has recently been a lack of judicial confidence in the evidence provided by handwriting analysis which has highlighted the need for objective research to be conducted in this area. In response this study has examined the principles and practices of two of the field’s most complex areas of analysis: disguised and artificially assisted (traced) handwriting. Any claims and observations made in the literature have been reviewed and empirically tested. A body of controlled data was collected from sixty volunteers who produced samples of disguised handwriting and traced signatures. A rigorous examination of these samples has been described and quantitative evidence found to support the conclusion that the act of disguising or tracing handwriting will have a negative influence upon the appearance and structure of that writing. Results have shown that disguised and traced writings are intimately related in that they share common characteristics that are indicative of the artificial manner by which they have been produced. Other features are also identified that can be directly associated with specific types of deviant writing to allow for distinctions to be made between them. The analysis is expressed in the form of a comprehensive taxonomy of the distinctive features of deviant writing

Developing a checklist for examining a fraudulent cheque

My goal in this research was to develop a checklist for examining a cheque for information that can be used to identify, individualise and trace the perpetrator of a crime. A further intent was to share and introduce a number of important concepts, namely forensic investigation, identification, individualisation, the Locard principle and crime scene. This research will explain that forensic investigation refers to the using of sophisticated investigation techniques to obtain sufficient information to prove the true facts in a court of law. Further, that identification is the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which an object is definitively recognisable or known, while the individual characteristics establish the individuality of a specific object. To link an individual with a crime scene, many types of evidence may be used and to associate an individual with the performed illegal handling, many types of evidence may be used. These types of evidence are commonly referred to as ”transfer” evidence. This process is also referred to as the ”Locard principle”. Lastly, a crime scene is explained as a place where a crime has occurred. It is also explained to be a ”laboratory of information” and therefore, during a cheque fraud investigation, the cheque is in most cases the only link to information to trace, identify and individualise the perpetrator. Therefore, the cheque should be treated as a crime scene. If forensic investigators use their knowledge of these concepts together with the checklist, it should enhance their investigation skills and empower them to become better equipped for the challenges they face in identifying, individualising and tracing the perpetrators in order to ensure successful prosecution and conviction. I believe all forensic investigators will benefit from what I have discovered through this research and I am very pleased to be able to introduce this checklist to you.Criminology and Security ScienceM.Tech. (Forensic Investigation

Handwriting as individualisation technique in fraud investigation

The aim of this research is to investigate how handwriting as an individualisation technique in fraud investigation can be used by police detectives, SARS investigators and forensic investigation specialists, who are responsible for the investigation and linking the perpetrator, with a view to criminal prosecution. A further intent was to share and introduce a number of important concepts, namely: criminal investigation, identification, individualisation, fraud, evidence and handwriting. The research will explain the sophisticated investigation techniques used to obtain sufficient information to prove the true facts in a court of law. Identification is the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which an object is definitively recognisable or known, while the individual characteristics establish the individuality of a specific object. Many types of evidence may be used to link an individual with a crime scene, and associate that individual with the performed illegal handling. It also explained that during a cheque/document fraud investigation, it is in most cases the only link to information to trace, identify and individualise the perpetrator, and to obtain a handwriting specimen. It is also discussed how to eliminate a person being a writer of a document, and how to collect, package and mark a disputed document during the investigation. If the investigators use their knowledge of these concepts, it should enhance their investigative skills, and empower them to be become better equipped for the challenges they face in identifying, individualising and linking the perpetrators, in order to ensure successful prosecution and conviction.Police PracticeM.Tech. (Forensic Investigation

Ambrose Bierce is Missing: And Other Historical Mysteries

What constitutes historical truth is often subject to change. Through ingenious detection, the accepted wisdom of one generation may become the discredited legend of another—or vice versa. In this wide- ranging study of historical investigation, former detective Joe Nickell allows the reader to look over his shoulder as he demonstrates the use of varied techniques in solving some of the world\u27s most perplexing mysteries. All the major categories of historical mystery are here—ancient riddles, biographical enigmas, hidden identity, “fakelore,” questioned artifacts, suspect documents, lost texts, obscured sources, and scientific challenges. Each is then illustrated by a complete case from the author\u27s own files. Nickell’s investigation of the giant Nazca drawings in Peru, for example—thought by some to provide proof of ancient extraterrestrial visitations—uses innovative techniques to reveal a very different origin. Other cases concern the 1913 disappearance of writer and journalist Ambrose Bierce, the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, the truth about the identity of John Demjanjuk (“Ivan the Terrible” to Polish death camp victims), the fate of a lost colonial American text, the authenticity of Abraham Lincoln\u27s celebrated Bixby letter, and the apparent real-life model for a mysterious character in a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In reaching his solutions, Nickell demonstrates a wide variety of investigative techniques—chemical and instrumental analyses, physical experimentation, a “psychological autopsy,” forensic identification, archival research, linguistic analysis, folklore study, and many others. His highly readable book will intrigue the scholar and the history buff no less than the mystery lover. Joe Nickell, a former investigator for a world-famous detective agency, teaches at the University of Kentucky and is author of several books, including Pen, Ink, and Evidence.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_history_in_general/1002/thumbnail.jp

Graphomania: Composing Subjects in Late-Victorian Gothic Fiction and Technology

This dissertation explores the varied phenomena of “automatic writing” in Victorian Gothic fiction, reading the genre’s fascination with the irrepressible signifying practices of the body in light of the medical, criminological and scientific discourses that underwrite the “scriptural economy” of the late nineteenth century with their own arsenal of automatic writing machines. I have titled the project Graphomania, and I consider the term a keyword of late-Victorian culture—one that names a distinctly Victorian pathology of compulsive writing, but that alludes also to the widespread epistemic hope that writing could render objectively the internal and subjective experiences of individuals. In a chapter devoted to Victorian graphomania and the three studies that follow (graphology in Jekyll and Hyde, retinal photography in The Beetle, and phonography in Dracula), the project is particularly interested in convergences and correspondences between graphical machines and human bodies. In this study, Victorian technology and Gothic literature emerge as twin registers of the divided self, joined in their shared strategy of externalizing conflicts traditionally understood as invisible processes, but also in the consequent tendency of each uncanny text to expose its ghostly remainders and excesses in the process of trying to contain them

Tematski zbornik radova međunarodnog značaja. Tom 3 / Međunarodni naučni skup “Dani Arčibalda Rajsa”, Beograd, 3-4. mart 2015.

In front of you is the Thematic Collection of Papers presented at the International Scientific Confer-ence “Archibald Reiss Days”, which was organized by the Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies in Belgrade, in co-operation with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Education, Science and Techno-logical Development of the Republic of Serbia, National Police University of China, Lviv State University of Internal Affairs, Volgograd Academy of the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry, Faculty of Security in Skopje, Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security in Ljubljana, Police Academy “Alexandru Ioan Cuza“ in Bucharest, Academy of Police Force in Bratislava and Police College in Banjaluka, and held at the Academy of Crimi-nalistic and Police Studies, on 3 and 4 March 2015.International Scientific Conference “Archibald Reiss Days” is organized for the fifth time in a row, in memory of the founder and director of the first modern higher police school in Serbia, Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, PhD, after whom the Conference was named.The Thematic Collection of Papers contains 168 papers written by eminent scholars in the field of law, security, criminalistics, police studies, forensics, informatics, as well as members of national security system participating in education of the police, army and other security services from Spain, Russia, Ukraine, Bela-rus, China, Poland, Armenia, Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska and Serbia. Each paper has been reviewed by two reviewers, international experts competent for the field to which the paper is related, and the Thematic Conference Proceedings in whole has been reviewed by five competent international reviewers.The papers published in the Thematic Collection of Papers contain the overview of contemporary trends in the development of police education system, development of the police and contemporary secu-rity, criminalistic and forensic concepts. Furthermore, they provide us with the analysis of the rule of law activities in crime suppression, situation and trends in the above-mentioned fields, as well as suggestions on how to systematically deal with these issues. The Collection of Papers represents a significant contribution to the existing fund of scientific and expert knowledge in the field of criminalistic, security, penal and legal theory and practice. Publication of this Collection contributes to improving of mutual cooperation between educational, scientific and expert institutions at national, regional and international level

Image and Video Forensics

Nowadays, images and videos have become the main modalities of information being exchanged in everyday life, and their pervasiveness has led the image forensics community to question their reliability, integrity, confidentiality, and security. Multimedia contents are generated in many different ways through the use of consumer electronics and high-quality digital imaging devices, such as smartphones, digital cameras, tablets, and wearable and IoT devices. The ever-increasing convenience of image acquisition has facilitated instant distribution and sharing of digital images on digital social platforms, determining a great amount of exchange data. Moreover, the pervasiveness of powerful image editing tools has allowed the manipulation of digital images for malicious or criminal ends, up to the creation of synthesized images and videos with the use of deep learning techniques. In response to these threats, the multimedia forensics community has produced major research efforts regarding the identification of the source and the detection of manipulation. In all cases (e.g., forensic investigations, fake news debunking, information warfare, and cyberattacks) where images and videos serve as critical evidence, forensic technologies that help to determine the origin, authenticity, and integrity of multimedia content can become essential tools. This book aims to collect a diverse and complementary set of articles that demonstrate new developments and applications in image and video forensics to tackle new and serious challenges to ensure media authenticity

Electronic Evidence and Electronic Signatures

In this updated edition of the well-established practitioner text, Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng have brought together a team of experts in the field to provide an exhaustive treatment of electronic evidence and electronic signatures. This fifth edition continues to follow the tradition in English evidence text books by basing the text on the law of England and Wales, with appropriate citations of relevant case law and legislation from other jurisdictions. Stephen Mason (of the Middle Temple, Barrister) is a leading authority on electronic evidence and electronic signatures, having advised global corporations and governments on these topics. He is also the editor of International Electronic Evidence (British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2008), and he founded the innovative international open access journal Digital Evidence and Electronic Signatures Law Review in 2004. Daniel Seng (Associate Professor, National University of Singapore) is the Director of the Centre for Technology, Robotics, AI and the Law (TRAIL). He teaches and researches information technology law and evidence law. Daniel was previously a partner and head of the technology practice at Messrs Rajah & Tann. He is also an active consultant to the World Intellectual Property Organization, where he has researched, delivered papers and published monographs on copyright exceptions for academic institutions, music copyright in the Asia Pacific and the liability of Internet intermediaries

CPA\u27s handbook of fraud and commercial crime prevention

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/1819/thumbnail.jp