Crimes are hard enough to investigate on land. What happens when the crime scene is underwater? Guns, knives, bodies, cars, boats, planes, drugs - almost anything that criminals use seems to make its way into the safety of Neptune's realm, and must be recovered, examined, and the results entered into court as evidence. For example, the non-traditional evidence recovered from Laci Peterson's body hopefully will eventually be presented to the court after being immersed in the Pacific Ocean for over four months.

To make matters worse, in today's climate Americans are challenged to detect and defend against an enemy that cannot be identified by uniform or language, and that attacks in an unconventional manner, possibly on the waterfront. The war against terrorism, crime, and drugs has inspired a collaboration among federal agencies, military forces, law enforcement agencies, and academic institutions for surface interdiction and enforcement, but who is trained and equipped to handle underwater crime scenes?

Since September 2001, some of these organizations have taken the opportunity to work on anti-terrorism, port security, and forensic science as it relates to incidents involving water. A program at Florida State University's (FSU) Panama City campus fits into this collaboration due to its unique expertise in advanced science diving and the academic programs offered in criminology and criminal justice. A year after its inception, FSU's Underwater Crime Scene Investigation Program is seeing the fruits of its research and development of new ideas and approaches to the investigation of underwater crime scenes.

Divers Must be Properly Trained
The underwater defense arena requires new paradigms in thought and process. According to state and federal law enforcement agencies, and the Department of Defense agencies, there is no consensus on procedures for search-and-recovery operations, much less for a scientific approach to underwater crime scene investigation. Investigative methodologies for civilian and military agencies commonly involve divers locating evidence and recovering it using the "snatch and grab" method, without completing an underwater crime scene analysis.

More importantly, law enforcement agencies are continually placing themselves in jeopardy for vicarious liability by using recreational and police divers that are not properly trained in the safety standards and procedures required for diving in extreme conditions. These divers often unknowingly exceed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) exemption, using commercial diving operations in the name of public safety diving, often injuring or killing themselves.

However, agencies can avoid that liability by using investigators and scientists properly trained to work as divers within the OSHA standards promulgated for data (evidence) collection, as specified in the exemption for scientific diving (OSHA standard part 1910.401.2.iv.). These divers can safely and legally process underwater crime scenes in extreme conditions. This additional training creates a shift from snatch-and-grab to prolonged underwater investigation and will, in the long run, provide for much more careful and complete underwater investigations.

Standardized Methodology Needed
At FSU, we have found from both law enforcement and federal agencies that a substantial need exists for standardization of methodology in underwater crime scene investigation. Florida's vast waterfront property, with immigration exceeding 1,000 people per day, makes every lake, lagoon, sinkhole, river, and beachfront a potential crime scene. Using protocols established with legal and scientific bases, evidence obtained from an in-water crime scene could be presented in court as credible evidence. Also, state and federal law enforcement and Department of Defense agencies confirm that graduates from an educational and training curriculum in underwater crime scene investigation will have enhanced employment opportunities.

FSU's program aims to close the gaps within the criminology and criminal justice system and to prepare our students to properly examine and present evidence to our legal system. Initial course offerings in underwater forensics allowed us to test the legitimacy of our protocols and determine student interest in the new program. The first courses were titled Introduction to Hyperbaric Science and Underwater Crime Scene Investigation. Both were taught in the summer and fall semesters of 2002, and had double the usual enrollment without advertising the new curriculum outside of our campus. The students were excited about being part of a new prototype in criminology, obtaining knowledge to be better qualified for the workforce when they received their degrees.

We train underwater forensic scientists by taking the best data collection methodologies from existing underwater academic disciplines and adapting them for underwater crime scene examinations. The program utilizes established educational and training curricula designed by FSU, and incorporates them for application by scientists, law enforcement, and military personnel. The basic model is that a student first be a qualified criminologist, then develop a criminal justice specialty as a crime scene scientist, and only then be trained to apply the expertise underwater. This model has been effective in maintaining the academic integrity of underwater specialties in anthropology, archaeology, biology and oceanography.

Further Improving FSU's Program
In the future, FSU is proposing an Underwater Crime Scene Investigation Certificate containing five new courses for Criminology and Criminal Justice students. Students would take the courses as electives, so they would not take the place of existing prerequisites courses in the academic program. The five courses are currently under review for approval through the school's curriculum committee. The five proposed courses are Forensic Science in Investigation, Introduction to Underwater Investigation, Introduction to Science Diving, Underwater Crime Scene Investigation, and Applications of Advanced Underwater Technology. Each course will have a laboratory component.

The courses will be taught in sequence as students progress in the background knowledge required for both scientific investigation and safe operations in underwater environments, as well as progressively increasing their proficiency in both investigative skills and underwater operations. The initial protocols were adapted from procedures already proven acceptable for land-based crime scene examinations. By applying protocols specifically designed for in-water search and recovery of evidence, and using proper procedures with which evidence is to be collected, divers will be able to conduct a complete and comprehensive evaluation of a crime scene that would otherwise be unattainable.

Establishing Field Protocols
It is recommended that diving safety officers (DSO) for all law enforcement dive teams establish protocols and procedures for underwater crime scene investigation. Ultimately, the responsibility for the safety of their dive teams lies with the divemasters and DSOs, as well as to understand and comply with required state and federal regulations for diving, stay current with personnel training, have medical exams at appropriate intervals, and keep equipment maintenance records.

FSU's Underwater Crime Scene Investigation program is developing manuals to establish the methods needed to meet these requirements. These protocols and procedures are intended as guidelines, and should not restrict evidence recovery teams from meeting their objectives, but rather, are intended to allow different agencies to conduct similar training, thereby producing compatible capabilities to achieve joint ventures.