Forensic Science Series to explore death in police custody, occult crimes, and forgery
Edhaya Thennarasu
“This year, we have many speakers
covering interesting topics that are very timely,” said Dennis Hilliard,
director of the Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory at URI and adjunct
professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Pharmacy. “We will have
speakers talking about death in police custody, along with occult crimes
committed by unusual groups, a day before Halloween.”
The annual
series will be delivered both in a virtual and in-person
format. There are a limited number of seats available for the free seminars.
All seminars are Fridays from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Room 100 of the Richard E.
Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences, 140 Flagg Road, on the
Kingston Campus. See below for instructions on how to take part in the lectures
Hilliard, who organizes the seminar
series with Chemistry Professor Jimmie Oxley, will be the next speaker in the
series this Friday, Oct. 2. His lecture will focus on the application of
forensic science to crime scene investigations and the work of the state crime
laboratory, including how it was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other speakers this fall are:
Oct. 9, David Thatcher, a retired member of Office of Criminal Investigation at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, on “Metal Sensing Technology and Crime Scene Investigation.”
Oct. 16, Adam Hall, assistant professor and forensic scientist at
Boston University, on “Dr. Richard Saferstein: The Life & Legacy of a
Forensic Scientist.”
Oct. 23, David Benjamin, a clinical pharmacologist and
toxicologist and a former associate professor at Northeastern University, will
speak on “Death in Police Custody from Negligence-Body Packing &
Self-Administration.” Benjamin is a former clinical research director who
has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry designing
and analyzing research studies involving the effects of drugs on people, and
assessing adverse drug reactions. His research has included areas such as
waiving of Miranda rights and false and coerced confessions.
Oct. 30, Ed Pierce, retired officer at the Warwick Police
Department, will discuss ritualistic and occult crimes in his lecture, “Law
Enforcement Issues with Non-Traditional Groups.”
Nov. 6, James Streeter, a former forensic science examiner at
the Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Laboratory, will talk about
document analysis and forgery in his lecture on handwriting analysis. Streeter
has more than 21 years of experience in the analysis of questioned documents,
handwriting examination, and imprints/impressions evidence.
Nov. 13, Meredith Scannell, author of “Fast Facts About Forensic
Nursing” and clinical research nurse at the Boston Nursing Institute, on
“Latest Trends & Issues Among Individuals of Domestic & Sexual
Violence.”
Nov. 20, Sean Boyce, A U.S. Postal inspector, on “The Pony
Express.”
Dec. 4, Frederick Bieber, professor of Pathology at Harvard
University, on “DNA.”
Dec. 11, Laura Carey, a New England Innocence Project attorney,
on “The Role of Forensic Science in Innocence Cases.”
All lectures are free and open to
the public. However, only a maximum of 60 people will be permitted inside the
lecture hall, under the university’s COVID-19 safety measures.
Visitors interested in attending
lectures in person or watching them live online must request permission by
email from Hilliard (dhilliard@uri.edu) or Oxley (joxley@uri.edu),
prior to the lecture. A live-stream link will be emailed to registered
students and interested viewers each week. Interested viewers can access the
link, if the speaker has authorized broadcasting, at the FSP
Webpage and can log in at 3:30 p.m. on Fridays to watch the
lecture, or access the recorded lecture any time using the web page link. The
lectures will not be interactive.
All students, faculty, staff, and visitors attending lectures are required to complete a daily health self-assessment electronic questionnaire before attending the lectures in person and must adhere to the University’s guidelines on mask wearing and social distancing.
