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HOMICIDAL DROWNING INVESTIGATION PROGRAM

Fee: $195.00 per Student

DESCRIPTION: Drowning is the second most common cause of "accidental" death for children and is third for adults in the U.S. These are not all accidental. Too few cases are investigated with body-in-water knowledge, and even fewer end in convictions.

If there is an investigation, it normally begins days to months after the incident, which means critical scene evidence is likely lost.

Without training in the specifics of homicidal drowning red flags most incidents will appear accidental. Learn what information to collect on every drowning or body-found-in-water scene.

AVAILABLE TO: For all Dive Team members and Law enforcement personnel including: Detectives, Patrol Officers, Crime Scene Technicians, Medical Examiners, Coroners, and Prosecutors.

This program will change the way you look at and manage water-related incidents.
Our research shows that an estimated twenty percent of child drowning incidents may be homicides, and as we learn more, that percentage is beginning to look more conservative than high.

Body-Found-in-Water topics include:

  • Is it a body dump or a drowning? State-of-the art diagnostics of drowning
  • What to photo and document on body & scene
  • Bathtub, bucket, toilet, pool, & open water incidents.
  • Witness interviewing and statement analysis
  • Preservation of possible water crime scene
  • What happens to submerged bodies and evidence?
  • Submerged evidence recovery and processing (DNA, weapons, fabrics, pollen, etc).
  • Was it not there, or did the dive team just miss it?
  • Study actual case histories.
  • Indications of homicides by drowning.
  • Autoerotic aquatic asphyxia and aquatic sexual sadism
  • Post-mortem physiology with examination of forensic slides.
  • What to do upon arrival on a drowning scene

Why are homicidal drowning incidents so easily missed?

  • Presumption of tragic accident.
  • There are usually none of the normal signals to alert the police officer's brain of possible foul play such as trauma or signs of a struggle.
  • Medical examiners cannot conclusively prove that a person died of drowning.
  • The body might not have been recovered.
  • If the victim's body is found quickly, such as in a swimming pool or tub, it is quickly removed by rescue personnel, which means evidence could be destroyed.
  • There is little or no standard evidence to recover and witnesses are often family members.
  • If a drowning is investigated, it is usually done so by hindsight, after scene evidence is lost.

FEE: $195.00 per Student

CERTIFICATION:  POST Plan IV.

PRESENTATION DATES: (see below)

LOCATION: Alameda County Sheriff's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, 4985 Broder Blvd., Dublin, CA 94568 (Just West of the Sheriff's Regional Training Center) [ map ].

RESERVATIONS & LODGING:  Reservations will be made on a first come, first serve basis. Use the link below to submit reservations on-line or print the form and fax it to Vickie Swenson at (925) 551-6985. If you need information please call her at (925) 551-6970.


LODGING: Reservations for lodging must be arranged by the student or his/her agency [hotel list].



Available class dates /Seats Available

(Pending)

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