| Author | Message | ||
     Kasey Wertheim |
Patrick, Most of the latent print examiners in the United States work for police departments, sheriff's offices, state and federal crime laboratories, or other various agencies or organizations (prosecutor's office, public defender's office, etc.) These agencies either hire examiners who have already been trained, or they train examiners themselves. I would venture to say that almost all of the examiners I have met have been trained by local, county, state or federal law enforcement agencies or crime laboratories. These are the places to start your search for a training program. Good luck! I hope to see you in a few years. -Kasey | ||
| Patrick OKeefe |
Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but my question is: How does one become a Latent Print Examiner? Is there a school one must attend? Classes to take? I see the site for the exam, but how do I get to the point to know enough to take the exam? I am a digital designer and find the field fascinating. I would love to get involved in learning how to examine properly but don't know where to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you | ||
| Gerald Clough |
Most professional disciplines have a certification or licensure process. But in latent print examination, certification is far from a universally expected standard. There are a great many entirely competent examiners who did not sit for the IAI CLPE examination. Many of them work for labs and units who enforce rigorous, regular competency testing. Many work with no competency testing in any form but are nevertheless entirely competent. And, of course, some are less than competent, in one way or another. And certification is no proof against error. Your question can be asked for at least two intents. One is to ask if certification is important for employment. Not for initial employment, certainly, since certification requires some work experience in comparison. It may well be a distinct advantage or a requirement for some subsequent positions, depending on the opinions and desires of potential employers. Certification does say something important aboutthe examiner. The question could also be asked if certification is important to the discipline as a whole. That is a matter of some debate. My personal feeling is that a very broadly recognized and valued certification standard is a good thing. One would hope that every working examiner was well capable of passing the fairly demanding CLPE exam. And there is little way of knowing that unless they have taken it. I say this knowing that a number of examiners whose work I know entirely merits my respect and who I am absolutely confident that they would have no difficulty at all with the exam have no interest in certification. | ||
| m. bolotte |
Why is certification important in this field? |
