This course will review the various criminality directed at information systems or facilitated through personal computers.  Instruction will emphasize the dynamics of Cybercrime, the application of computer forensics, and available resources to combat crime on the worldwide web.  Computer forensics, hacking, intrusions, identity theft, Internet scams and schemes will be discussed to familiarize students will the issues related to worldwide interconnectivity through information systems and Cyberspace.   

This course examines the theory and techniques of crime scene photography. Students will be introduced to basic photographic terminology, concepts, and techniques. A 35 mm SLR or equivalent digital camera is required for the course. The course will be taught using the NWU Blackboard course system and requires access to a computer and the ability to upload photographs to blackboard. This course covers much of the same information as is in FORSC515 and is not appropriate for those who have taken that course.

Instructors:
Gary Plank, MA
Mario Scalero, PhD

We base many decisions on our determinations of possible threats to ourselves and those around us. This course will briefly examine the information we use to process these risk determinations and provide explanations for our decisions. The course will examine the way we view and perceive threat cases involving stalking, workplace, and school violence.

This 12-hour, one credit, course presumes basic knowledge of cameras and their use. It will emphasize using advanced techniques, including but not limited to, the use of filters to enhance bloodstains and fingerprints, the use of bounce photography in difficult lighting situations, and digital enhancement of the images. A 35 mm SLR or equivalent digital camera is required for the course.

Prerequisite: FORSC515 or FORSC575 or permission of the instructor.

This course will familiarize the student with the techniques involved in fingerprint evidence recovery and examination. Various topics such as fingerprint classification methods, AFIS system search capability, comparison techniques and evidence collection methodology will be discussed. An emphasis will be placed on modern comparison methods and court presentation of fingerprint evidence. The student should come away from this class with a good understanding of fingerprint methods and how this applied science functions in a modern law enforcement agency.

Expert witnesses are called to testify due to their expertise and experience in a specific subject, such as DNA analysis, scene investigation, psychology, or many other fields. Many of these subjects can be difficult to present to a lay audience, such as a jury, in a limited amount of time. This course will show students how best to prepare in order to present themselves, their credentials, and their testimony in a professional manner and how to anticipate questions from opposing counsel. The students will be given preparation techniques, familiarization with trial procedures, will have to prepare a court C.V., and will participate in a mock trial exercise.

Forensic Linguistics deals with the interface of language, crime, and the law. It deals with linguistic methods to determine authorship attribution and whether the subject is describing the truth. This is a distance learning course taught on-line by John Olsson, a practising forensic linguist. The course covers a description of different kinds of forensic text, including ransom demands, suicide letters and a suspect interview excerpt.

The course requires the completion of five assignments from a choice of fifteen. Get introductory course information.

Students pay NWU a fee for the credit hour, and Olsson the UK equivalent of an additional $200 fee.