2024

The 48th Annual Educational Conference was held on April 8th-10th at the SpringHill Suites, in Lawrence, Kansas. We had 119 in attendance and ten vendors present and an additional three vendor sponsors. We hosted seven different workshops and several more lectures throughout the 2 1/2 days!

On Day 1, there was a cold case presentation by the Johnson County Crime Lab. Day 2 saw presentations on NIBIN by the KBI, IAI Photography Certification, Leadership and Goal Setting for LEO and Forensics, a Pathology Q&A, and the Public Safety Credit Union. Breakouts and Workshop for Day 2 included Injury Detection with ALS by Spex Forensics, Entomology Evidence by  Brian McCornic from KState, and Presumptive Field Testing by DetectaChem. Day 2 also included Poster Presentations and Photo Submissions. We had several wonderful research/poster presentations from university students throughout Kansas.

Day 3 started with a presentation on Fire Investigations, then moved to a Drug Overdose Scene Processing presentation. After lunch, presentations included Fentanyl Identification and CSI for Illicit Hazardous Environments: A State and Local Perspective. Workshops/Breakouts for the day included Evidence Detection with UV by Spex Forensics, CSEye Spy by Foster + Freeman, Fire Debris Evidence Collection by Tim Linot with Olathe Fire Department, and Footwear Collection and Documentation by Kim Gerhardt-Whiddon with Washburn University.

Thank you to all of the presenters/instructors, vendors/sponsors, and the 2023 KDIAI Board for making the 2024 Conference a huge success. Thank you to all of the attendees in make it a great KDIAI Conference - we hope to see you in 2025!

2023

The 47th Annual Educational Conference was held on April 24th-26th at the Drury Plaza Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. Our first 2 1/2 day conference in many, many years.

The conference title was "Basic to Advanced Investigative Techniques". We had 133 in attendance and nine vendors and three additional vendor sponsors. We hosted eight workshops and several more lectures.

On Day 1, we had a presentation from Marc Bennett, Sedgwick County DA, and Tim Relph, Wichita PD, on the investigation into the Letitia Davis homicide. Day 1 also included a presentation from Jeremy Chappell on Accreditation, Certification, and Standardization.

Day 2, had a presentation on Ghost Guns from Jason Thon, KBI, the investigation of the Matthew Schoshke homicide from Andy Herrera, KBI, and how to take better known prints and postmortem print identification by Jay Wessel, KBI. A presentation from Cassie Schultheis and Rumi Mamenari Delgado, Johnson County Sheriff's Office reviewed an attempted homicide case where latent prints showed up in a reversed position. Day 2 was wrapped up with a presentation from Wade Cherms, Riley County PD, on using drones for documenting crime scenes.

Day 3, started with a presentation on Bias from Holly Latham, KBI, followed by a presentation on investigative genetic genealogy by Jena Sparling and Todd Leeds, KBI. Holly Latham, KBI, also presented on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis. Wendy Hummell, Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office, gave a presentation on Vicarious Trauma and Building Resilience. Cory Latham, KBI wrapped the day with a presentation on the use of technology to advance investigations.

Workshops on Day 2 and Day 3 included several workshops on Crime Scene Imaging - Basic, Specialized, and Low Light, all taught by Chris Engle-Tjaden, KBI, and Rebecca Vincent, Johnson County Sheriff's Office. Two vendors gave workshops on the FSIS, Arrowhead Forensics, and how to detect more evidence with forensic light sources, Foster+Freeman. Kayla Nida, KBI, gave a presentation on an introduction to forensic anthropology, and Kim Gerhardt-Whiddon and Kole Perez, Washburn University, hosted a workshop on lifting latent prints from hard to light surfaces.

Thank you to all of the presenters/instructors, vendors/sponsors, and the 2022 KDIAI Board for making the 2023 Conference a huge success. Thank you to all of the attendees in make it a great KDIAI Conference - we hope to see you in 2024!