A NEW BREED OF LOCKSMITH

James H. Glazier, CML

“From a drop of water, the logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it. Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired through long and patient study, nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to attain the highest possible perfection in it.”

Sherlock Holmes, In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Book of Life”.

Not too long ago investigators had to find the smoking gun to convict a suspect. Now all they need is the smoke.

On December 16, 1989, federal court judge Robert Vance opened a small box that had been mailed to his home in Mountain Brook, Alabama. When he lifted the lid the box exploded, killing him instantly and seriously wounding his wife. Two days later, Savannah, Georgia, attorney and alderman Robert Robinson died in his office when a second package bomb exploded as he opened it. That same day a third bomb was discovered during a routine screening of packages mailed to judges in the Atlanta federal courthouse. A fourth package bomb was delivered to a female employee of the NAACP legal counsel in Jacksonville, Florida. She left it on her desk and went to run some errands, intending to open it when she returned later that afternoon. But her car broke down as she drove back to the office and had to be towed, so she went home. On the news that night she heard of the explosion in Savannah and realized that the package on her desk was similar to the one that killed Robert Robinson. The next morning she called the Jacksonville bomb squad. And she lived to tell about this!

The crimes above were termed as the VANPAC investigation and eventually became one of the most massive investigations in FBI history, a year long investigation involving hundreds of agents and law enforcement personnel. More than six thousand people were interviewed and millions of documents examined. The case was finally solved on the third floor of the FBI Building in Washington, DC, in the FBI Crime Laboratory.

Investigators used to come upon a crime scene and turn on the brightest lights they could find at varying angles, all to “shed some light on the scene” and locate possible evidence. No more! Now specialists come into the crime scene fitted with lasers and ultraviolet light and infrared light, conduct chemical tests to gather minute pieces of evidence with special vacuums and other specialized equipment to try to get a glimpse of the invisible world which may hold a very crucial piece of evidence. Castings are made of tool marks, paint scrapings are taken and sealed in containers as possible future evidence.

No one knows how many hundreds of years ago the principles of science and technology were first applied to crime solving. But the use of science to develop evidence and solve crimes, which is traditionally known by the rather prosaic term “forensic science”, has evolved slowly and with much struggle. Many years ago in Chicago, Illinois, a young Chicago Police Officer by the name of Art Paholke, also a locksmith and 44^th member of ALOA, saw the need for “forensic locksmithing”. He retired some years ago as the Chief Forensic Comparative Tool Mark Examiner for the Chicago Police Crime Lab. Art Paholke is considered to be the “father” of “forensic or investigative locksmithing”. During his career Art wrote many articles about the value of examining and comparing marks on locks and locking devices.

Hans Meljhede CML, a locksmith and “forensic examiner” in Denmark has contributed much to this field of locksmithing through numerous “Forensic Locksmithing” classes at the ALOA Convention each year. Don Shiles RL, a locksmith and Federal Investigator developed a class known as “Investigative Locksmithing” which has been given at ALOA each year as well as taught throughout the United States and Canada by Don and Jim Glazier, a Certified Master Locksmith and President and founder of the International Association of Investigative Locksmiths. As a result of this new interest in the locksmithing field, a new generation of locksmith is evolving, the “Investigative/Forensic locksmith”.

The locksmith is often the first person called after the police in a burglary and many times is first to arrive at the scene or often arrives while the police are still at the scene. Unfortunately, most police officers are unfamiliar with locks and locking devices and have little if any training in “crime scene searches”. Unless this is a “major” case, the officer will make a report, which may or may not be referred to an investigator for further investigation. With the number of burglaries today, many never reach the desk of a trained investigator, or if they do, it may be too late to secure valuable evidence. This is where the locksmith can be a great assistance to law enforcement and the public in general. Our commitment is to security, both before and after the fact, is it not? If this is the case then should we not be prepared to at least suggest that the cylinder, which was wrenched from the aluminum stile door, be kept as evidence by the police? The marks left by the implement can be compared later should a suspect be apprehended with the tool or implement. The same is true with paint scrapings or tool marks on a door jam.

Today it is possible to examine the pins from a cylinder and ascertain if it has been picked, and in some cases the style pick used to neutralize this cylinder. Many locks can be “by-passed” with other tools that are on the market today. All of these tools leave their identifying mark. These can be viewed with a 30-power microscope available from Radio Shack for less than $15.00. It has even been suggested that a process that has been called “Key Pathway Analysis” can determine the last key used to operate a lock. This process has never been subjected to any peer review and all evidence at this time tends to discredit such assertions. Several very intense studies have been conducted that show this is not possible and until such time as the individuals who are promoting this theory have subjected their claims to peer review, one would be foolish to accept such as scientific evidence.

Lawyers and Insurance Companies are constantly looking for those with expertise who can testify to various matters involving locks and access control devices. As a result a need was seen for an organization which could bring together those locksmiths, law enforcement officers, insurance investigators and others who could offer a valuable service to law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and the public in general. As a result, The International Association of Investigative Locksmiths, Inc. was born in March of 1998 to fill this void in our industry. I.A.I.L. will be certifying locksmiths and others as “Certified Forensic Locksmiths” as a part of their charter.

Membership is open to any locksmith, law enforcement officer, insurance investigator or federal investigator who is interested in this most interesting and lucrative field. You can obtain further information from their website at www.iail.org or write to them at I.A.I.L. P.O. Box 144, Mt. Airy, and MD 21771 requesting an application and brochure on membership. You may find this to be a very lucrative addition to your locksmithing professionalism.

Note: Jim is available to provide assistance to Intelnet members regarding anything you want to know about locks, locksmithing, and locksmith forensics. He is a Distribution List member of Intelnet.