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Steven C. Drielak:  Author, Co-Author

 

Over the past 30 years, Steven C. Drielak has personally collected chemical, biological and radiological forensic evidence samples at over 500 crime scenes and has managed homeland security and  criminal environmental enforcement programs on both the local and national levels.  He has testified at numerous state and federal felony criminal trials and is a former EPA National Academy instructor. This experience, combined with over 20 years of academic research, has provided the foundation for these published texts. 

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Environmental Crime: Evidence Gathering and Investigative Techniques
2nd Edition
 2019
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The purpose of this text is to guide the new criminal investigator who is about to enter the highly-regulated and complex field of criminal environmental investigation. This type of criminal investigation has a "steep learning curve." Every hazardous waste and substance evidence-gathering operation is strictly regulated by numerous laws and mandated protocols which must be carefully adhered to in order for the prosecution to meet its burden of proof.  This text has been used by the US EPA in its Environmental Investigative Training program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga. 

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Hot Zone Forensics: Chemical, Biological and             Radiological Evidence                          Collection                    Author

Hot Zone Forensics is a detailed description of the evidence collection protocols that will be required in criminal cases involving the release of a chemical agent, biological agent, or radiological material. This book sets the standards for the methods that may be used by local, state and federal investigative law enforcement officers when locating and collecting hazardous evidence in airborne, liquid, solid, surface and dermal form.  The recommended collection protocols provided in this book have been designed to meet the many rigorous challenges that may be faced during the criminal trial process.  This text has been used by the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga. 

Weapons of Mass Destruction:  Response  and  Investigation   Co-Author

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This book is designed to provide law enforcement personnel with response guidelines and evidence gathering techniques that may be utilized when responding to an incident involving the use or threatened use of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD). The first part of the book addresses the actions to be taken by the first law enforcement personnel arriving at the scene of a WMD incident. The text examines the planning process in great detail, and the incident management process is also extensively reviewed.  The second part of the book is designed for the hazardous material trained investigator. The required training, equipment, and investigative procedures are clearly defined in this section, and detailed step-by-step instructions are provided for the collection of chemical, biological, and radiological evidence. In addition, investigative techniques are provided that will assist the criminal investigator in identifying and entering a facility suspected of manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction. Remote sampling techniques are provided to assist in gathering the probable cause for a search warrant.

The Collection of Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Evidence in a Global Justice Environment

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Today's global justice environment demands a new standard for collecting chemical, biological, and radiological criminal evidence in cases involving the release of hazardous substances with intent to cause mass casualties.   Past criminal trials in Arusha, Tanzania (leaders of the Rwanda genocide), in The Hague (Slobodan Milosevic), in U.S. federal court (perpetrators of the U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa), and in a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands (bombers of Pan Am flight 103, Lockerbie) all reflect a growing trend toward international prosecutions. In addition, the International Criminal Court, under United Nations auspices, was founded in 1998 and currently has 97 member states.

It is a fair assumption that the various international justice systems, including the U.S. criminal justice system, will eventually be charged with the prosecution of a case involving mass casualties that are the end result of the criminal release of a hazardous substance.  The practical implication of this global justice movement will be, in all likelihood, a future judicial examination of the law enforcement procedures used to collect chemical, biological, and radiological forensic evidence.

 Environmental Crime Trials:  

 The Road to Reasonable Doubt

2017

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This book has been written specifically for prosecutors, prosecution team members and defense attorneys who may be active participants in an environmental crimes trial.  

It examines the environmental crime scene evidence collection issues normally associated with criminal prosecutions involving hazardous wastes and hazardous substances and their subsequent release to the environment. The myriad of evidence collection and analysis issues raised here will focus on the equipment, procedures, protocols, training and documentation required in order to properly collect this unique type of criminal evidence.  Errors made during the early evidence collection stage of a criminal environmental investigation will become glaringly apparent during an environmental crime trial and may have a devastating effect upon the final jury verdict. Armed with the knowledge provided in this text, the environmental crimes prosecutor will be able to provide initial guidance to the environmental investigative team which may minimize or eliminate many of these issues at the earliest stages of the criminal investigation.   

      For the defense attorney, this text provides a consequence analysis of the potential criminal evidence collection errors which may be made by regulatory personnel and private contractors who are often utilized by the prosecution in lieu of properly trained law enforcement personnel.   In many instances, these evidence collection errors are committed by regulatory trained individuals and contractors who have little or no criminal evidence collection or crime scene investigation experience or training.  All of which may contribute to the question of reasonable doubt. 

Sampling for Biological Agents in the Environment  Co-Author

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This invaluable volume brings together the latest information on the environmental sampling element of a biological evidence collection event. Resulting from a national conference of first responders, scientists, and industry representatives, this book presents best practices that will help standardize procedures and technology to properly sample for biological evidence and threat agents. The sampling issues, techniques, and equipment are explained for professionals involved in sampling and testing of biologically contaminated materials and areas. The authors of individual chapters span the range of expertise across the biological sampling community. One of the key learning points of this text for law enforcement officers, technical sppport personnel, prosecutors and defense attorneys, is a detailed chapter describing the proper documentation of a criminal biological evidence sampling event.

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