This episode of the Just Science podcast discusses recent updates to the National Institute of Justice’s publication Guide for the Death Scene Investigator.
In this special release episode, the Just Science podcast sat down with Chuck Heurich, Senior Physical Scientist with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and Dr. Jennifer Snippen, experienced medicolegal death investigator and consultant, to discuss recent updates to NIJ’s Guide for the Death Scene Investigator. Twenty-five years ago, NIJ released a guide to help medicolegal death investigators navigate complex scenes and cases. This document has since evolved with the development of best practices and technological advancements. In 2024, a new version was released after a multi-disciplinary group of experts collaborated to make four major changes, including updates to documentation for death notifications to the office, procedures for child death investigations, partnering with law enforcement, and more. Heurich and Dr. Snippen describe why the Guide for the Death Scene Investigator was developed, how the newest updates came to be, and implications for day-to-day operations for medicolegal death investigators. This episode is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.