Pauline Rowson's Blog - Posts Tagged "fingerprinting"
Writing a Crime Novel - new talk at CSI Portsmouth by Pauline Rowson
Unfortunately owing to personal circumstances Dr Neil McCaw whose talk was to be on Victorian Crime Fiction at CSI Portsmouth on Saturday 5 November has had to withdraw from the programme. I will be stepping in to take his place in addition to being on the panel event in the afternoon. I won't be talking about Victorian Crime Fiction though but about writing a crime novel. My talk will take place in the morning of Saturday 5 November between 10.00am - 11.00 am and again between 11.30am - 12.30pm. Sorry to disappoint all those who were looking forward to Dr McCaw's talk but hopefully I can make up for it in some small way.
Here are the details:
Writing A Crime Novel - plotting, researching and writing the crime novel
If you've ever wondered where crime writers get their ideas from, how they turn those ideas into complex plots and sub plots, how they research for their novels and how the fiction compares with the fact now is your chance to find out.
Pauline Rowson is the author of the DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novels set in the Solent area. She is an accomplished and entertaining speaker and draws the inspiration for her popular crime novels from the Solent area where she lives. Her crime novels have been highly acclaimed both in the UK and the USA and have been translated into several languages. She is also the author of two thrillers one of which the award winning In Cold Daylight was voted by the public as the third best read for World Book Day 2008
CSI Portsmouth Morning Programme 10.00 - 12.30 am - choose two sessions to attend, one between 10am- 11am and another between 11.30am - 12.30pm
Forensic psychology – How realistic is the forensic psychologist portrayed on television detective programmes and in crime novels? Lucy Wainwright will discuss this and many aspects of her fascinating work
Fingerprinting – Fact versus Fiction – Jane Aston from the Fingerprint bureau at Police Support Headquarters, Hampshire, gives an intriguing insight into how it really works.
True Crime – In Charge Of Murder – How a real murder case is worked, former Detective Superintendent Bob Bridgestock tells it like it is.
Writing A Crime Novel - plotting, researching and writing the crime novel, using the Solent area for setting and inspiration - Pauline Rowson author of the DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novels
CSI Portsmouth Afternoon Programme 2pm - 5pm
Join International best selling crime authors, Mark Billingham, John Harvey, Michael Ridpath and Pauline Rowson, and police and forensic experts: Dr Claire Nee, Dr Paul Smith, an expert in crime scenes; Hampshire Police – Major Crime Team Senior Investigator and Scene of Crime Officer for this lively panel debate where crime fiction meets crime fact.
4pm Book Signing and a chance to talk with the crime authors on an individual basis
CSI Portsmouth Tickets
Tickets on sale from the Box Office + 44 (0)23 9268 8685.
Tickets cost £5 for the morning and £7 for the afternoon with a discounted ticket of £10 for the whole day and includes £3 off the price of a book bought at the event.
Here are the details:
Writing A Crime Novel - plotting, researching and writing the crime novel
If you've ever wondered where crime writers get their ideas from, how they turn those ideas into complex plots and sub plots, how they research for their novels and how the fiction compares with the fact now is your chance to find out.
Pauline Rowson is the author of the DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novels set in the Solent area. She is an accomplished and entertaining speaker and draws the inspiration for her popular crime novels from the Solent area where she lives. Her crime novels have been highly acclaimed both in the UK and the USA and have been translated into several languages. She is also the author of two thrillers one of which the award winning In Cold Daylight was voted by the public as the third best read for World Book Day 2008
CSI Portsmouth Morning Programme 10.00 - 12.30 am - choose two sessions to attend, one between 10am- 11am and another between 11.30am - 12.30pm
Forensic psychology – How realistic is the forensic psychologist portrayed on television detective programmes and in crime novels? Lucy Wainwright will discuss this and many aspects of her fascinating work
Fingerprinting – Fact versus Fiction – Jane Aston from the Fingerprint bureau at Police Support Headquarters, Hampshire, gives an intriguing insight into how it really works.
True Crime – In Charge Of Murder – How a real murder case is worked, former Detective Superintendent Bob Bridgestock tells it like it is.
Writing A Crime Novel - plotting, researching and writing the crime novel, using the Solent area for setting and inspiration - Pauline Rowson author of the DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novels
CSI Portsmouth Afternoon Programme 2pm - 5pm
Join International best selling crime authors, Mark Billingham, John Harvey, Michael Ridpath and Pauline Rowson, and police and forensic experts: Dr Claire Nee, Dr Paul Smith, an expert in crime scenes; Hampshire Police – Major Crime Team Senior Investigator and Scene of Crime Officer for this lively panel debate where crime fiction meets crime fact.
4pm Book Signing and a chance to talk with the crime authors on an individual basis
CSI Portsmouth Tickets
Tickets on sale from the Box Office + 44 (0)23 9268 8685.
Tickets cost £5 for the morning and £7 for the afternoon with a discounted ticket of £10 for the whole day and includes £3 off the price of a book bought at the event.
An intriguing visit to the Fingerprint Bureau
Crime authors get to research all sorts of interesting things and last Saturday I spent a fascinating morning at the Fingerprint Bureau at Hampshire Police Support Headquarters at Netley learning how the fingerprints taken at the scene of crime and of people in police custody are identified.
Although I'd researched this before and have had lots of advice from the Fingerprint Team I went there specifically to ask questions that relate to the DI Andy Horton crime novel I'm currently writing, number twelve in the series. And I'm obviously pleased that not only were my questions answered but the information I gained threw up some further interesting plot lines, which of course I'm not going to spoil by mentioning here.
The team from Hampshire Police Fingerprint Bureau have always been extremely helpful, turning up as they do for CSI Portsmouth every year in November (a one day event where crime fiction meets crime fact) and also for CSI Basingstoke, which I helped to organise in July 2013, and they'll also be at CSI Winchester, which I'm also involved with, on 8 March 2014. So I have lots of reasons to be grateful to them.
On Saturday, Jane Ashton, Supervisory Fingerprint Examiner, showed me around the modern single storey building named Herschel House appropriately after the father of fingerprinting William James Herschel who was born in Slough on 9th January 1833. He was the grandson of astronomer William Herschel, and the son of John Herschel, also an astronomer but his father asked him to choose another career, luckily for us, and he joined the East India Company.
Following the Indian Mutiny of 1858 he joined the Indian Civil Service and it was here, while drawing up a contract with a local man, that he made him use a hand print in order to prevent him from denying the contract later.
Throughout his life Herschel experimented with fingerprints using them to prevent forgery and as an administrative tool. But it was Francis Galton and Edward Henry, building on the foundations that Herschel had laid, that turned fingerprinting into a tool for fighting crime. And I saw it in action.
Here are some facts from my visit, you can read the full article on my official website blog at http://www.rowmark.co.uk
1. Although the police have a computer system for fingerprints called IDENT1, fingerprints are still physically examined by humans, through an eye glass and careful study.
2. The trained examiners know exactly what to look for and how skin reacts, ages and can be scarred. They can spot a scar and other smaller details that IDENT1 can't.
3. Fingerprints, palm prints and toe prints don't lie. They are unique and even identical twins will have different fingerprints.
4. Fingerprints on objects can survive for a very long time and can be lifted from paint, oil, grease and from those left in blood.
5. Contrary to belief most villains don't wear gloves and even when they do they usually take them off for some purpose and then touch something.
6. The role of the scene of crime officers is to find that mark. The role of the fingerprint examiners are to identify it.
It's a fascinating topic and I enjoyed my visit tremendously. My thanks to Jane Ashton and her team at Hampshire Police Fingerprint Bureau, keep up the good work!
A Killing Coast
Although I'd researched this before and have had lots of advice from the Fingerprint Team I went there specifically to ask questions that relate to the DI Andy Horton crime novel I'm currently writing, number twelve in the series. And I'm obviously pleased that not only were my questions answered but the information I gained threw up some further interesting plot lines, which of course I'm not going to spoil by mentioning here.
The team from Hampshire Police Fingerprint Bureau have always been extremely helpful, turning up as they do for CSI Portsmouth every year in November (a one day event where crime fiction meets crime fact) and also for CSI Basingstoke, which I helped to organise in July 2013, and they'll also be at CSI Winchester, which I'm also involved with, on 8 March 2014. So I have lots of reasons to be grateful to them.
On Saturday, Jane Ashton, Supervisory Fingerprint Examiner, showed me around the modern single storey building named Herschel House appropriately after the father of fingerprinting William James Herschel who was born in Slough on 9th January 1833. He was the grandson of astronomer William Herschel, and the son of John Herschel, also an astronomer but his father asked him to choose another career, luckily for us, and he joined the East India Company.
Following the Indian Mutiny of 1858 he joined the Indian Civil Service and it was here, while drawing up a contract with a local man, that he made him use a hand print in order to prevent him from denying the contract later.
Throughout his life Herschel experimented with fingerprints using them to prevent forgery and as an administrative tool. But it was Francis Galton and Edward Henry, building on the foundations that Herschel had laid, that turned fingerprinting into a tool for fighting crime. And I saw it in action.
Here are some facts from my visit, you can read the full article on my official website blog at http://www.rowmark.co.uk
1. Although the police have a computer system for fingerprints called IDENT1, fingerprints are still physically examined by humans, through an eye glass and careful study.
2. The trained examiners know exactly what to look for and how skin reacts, ages and can be scarred. They can spot a scar and other smaller details that IDENT1 can't.
3. Fingerprints, palm prints and toe prints don't lie. They are unique and even identical twins will have different fingerprints.
4. Fingerprints on objects can survive for a very long time and can be lifted from paint, oil, grease and from those left in blood.
5. Contrary to belief most villains don't wear gloves and even when they do they usually take them off for some purpose and then touch something.
6. The role of the scene of crime officers is to find that mark. The role of the fingerprint examiners are to identify it.
It's a fascinating topic and I enjoyed my visit tremendously. My thanks to Jane Ashton and her team at Hampshire Police Fingerprint Bureau, keep up the good work!
A Killing Coast
