Category: FBI

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Jodi Cohen Named Special Agent in Charge of the Louisville Field Office

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

Jodi Cohen was named special agent in charge of the Louisville Field Office in Kentucky. She most recently served as chief of staff for the executive assistant director and section chief in the National Security Branch (NSB) at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Cohen joined the FBI as a special agent in 2005 and has served in a variety of roles throughout her tenure. Prior to working within the NSB, Ms. Cohen was selected as the assistant special agent in charge of the Criminal Branch in the Seattle Field Office in 2018. Ms. Cohen also served as a team leader in the Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters, where she oversaw agent-involved shooting investigations, national program reviews, and field office inspections.

In 2014, Ms. Cohen was promoted to supervisory special agent and reported to the Washington Field Office to provide support to national security and criminal covert operations.

Ms. Cohen was first assigned to the New York Field Office, where she investigated white-collar crime and health care fraud. She also worked violent crime matters on the Safe Streets Task Force.

Ms. Cohen holds a bachelor’s degree from Quinnipiac University and a master’s degree in physical therapy also from Quinnipiac University. Prior to starting her career with the FBI, she served as a senior physical therapist at a hospital in New York City.

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Evidence Response Team Training

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

Gathering Evidence

The French criminologist Edmond Locard, considered a pioneer in modern forensic science, asserted that every contact leaves a trace. Meaning any presence on a scene will leave evidence behind—fingerprints, blood, saliva, hairs and fibers, footprints, or tire treads. The job of a crime scene team is to find or uncover those points of contact.

Some evidence will clearly come to the fore—it will be visible to the naked eye or easily uncovered in a careful search. Other evidence will need to be coaxed into view. Evidence teams carry special light sources, chemicals, and tools to help illuminate, reveal, and gather what is invisible—faint dust trails from a person’s shoes, fingerprints on a soda can, or hidden stains.

This part of the job requires creativity, imagination, and extreme attention to detail. Does one wall look freshly painted when the others are worn? Could there be a reason the clutter is cleared off one area of the floor. Using the right tools, the evidence team may find the layer of fresh paint is covering up some writing and the oddly clear section of floor was wiped clean, but trace blood evidence remains. 

The ERT Toolbox

Peer into the Evidence Response Team toolbox to see how everyday items and specialized equipment help the team process a scene.

See more

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The ERT Toolbox

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

Team members wear protective clothing into scenes where hazardous materials may be present. The team lead determines what level of protective equipment each scene requires.

Field tests tell Evidence Response Teams when blood may be present, but metals, vegetable enzymes, and cleaners can show up as positive results. The FBI Lab will conduct the full analysis of any sample.

The sketcher is one of the key roles on an Evidence Response Team. The sketch shows the precise relationships between articles of evidence, which is something photographs can’t do.

Alternate light sources help evidence teams see things that are difficult or impossible to spot under normal lighting conditions.

Latent prints are the fingerprints humans leave behind when they touch objects or surfaces. An Evidence Response Team finds, documents, and preserves these prints.

A crime lab in Japan discovered that super glue fumes can enhance and preserve fingerprints on a hard surface.

A crime scene photographer may take dozens of photographs or thousands depending on the scene. The photos should tell a complete and unbiased story.

Crime scene sketchers use different measuring and sketching methods depending on the scene. But all sketches must be precise, with measurements accurate within one-quarter of an inch.

This method for capturing footprints is often used after an angled beam of light shows dusty footprints on a floor.

A pencil, quick reference cards, and a sturdy storage box with a clipboard, called a posse box, are among the essential equipment for an Evidence Response Team member.

With a full or partial shoe or boot tread, the FBI Laboratory can determine the size and type of footwear a person had on. A spatula keeps the casting material from destroying a footprint in sand or soft soil.

Properly logging and packaging evidence is a time consuming but essential part of processing a crime scene.

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FBI Launches Hate Crimes Reporting Campaign in Alaska

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

ANCHORAGE, AK—The FBI is engaged in a nationwide effort to build public awareness of hate crimes and to encourage reporting to law enforcement. This week, the FBI Anchorage Field Office launched a hate crime reporting campaign as part of that effort, which includes various digital, print, and radio advertisements across the state, and transit advertisements in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. The Alaska effort ties with a national FBI awareness campaign that hopes to drive education efforts and increase reporting: “Protecting Our Communities Together: Report Hate Crimes.”

“All Alaskans should be able to thrive in our communities without fear that their skin color, what they believe, or who they love, makes them a target for violence,” said Antony Jung, special agent in charge of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “The FBI hopes this campaign will encourage victims and witnesses to come forward, which will strengthen our ability to solve hate crimes, bring criminals to justice, and provide support to victims.”

Hate crimes are among the highest priorities at the FBI because of the devastating impact they have on families and communities. Hate crimes are not only an attack on the victim—they are meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community.

The FBI defines a hate crime as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. The FBI is the lead investigative agency for criminal violations of federal civil rights statutes and works closely with its law enforcement partners in many of these cases, even when federal charges are not pursued. The FBI also works to detect and prevent incidents through law enforcement training, public outreach, and partnerships with community groups.

Anyone who has information about or believes they are a victim of a federal hate crime should contact the FBI by phone at 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.

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Statement on Threat Made to the University of Michigan

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

Yesterday, the FBI, with the assistance of the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security, identified an individual responsible for posting an online threat against the women of the University of Michigan. Special agents from the FBI’s Baltimore Division, which covers the entire states of Maryland and Delaware, contacted the individual, who has been cooperative with law enforcement. During the interview, agents assessed the individual had neither the means nor the opportunity to carry out the threat.

There is no current or pending threat to the University of Michigan community from this individual.

Each and every threat brought to our attention is taken seriously and is investigated to determine whether the threat was made in violation of state or federal law. We are still collecting and reviewing evidence in this case. While that process is ongoing, we cannot provide any additional information—including the identity of the individual.

As always, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities that could represent a threat to public safety.