Topic: Goddard Award

[Scott Doyle]

Submissions Now Being Accepted for the Calvin H. Goddard Award for
Excellence in Firearm Identification

Forensic Technology is proud to announce that, until April 25, 2008, it is accepting submissions for this year’s Calvin H. Goddard Award competition. This annual contest recognizes an individual or a group of individuals that has demonstrated excellence in the area of firearm identification. The prize consists of a scholarship to attend AFTE’s (Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners) 2008 Training Seminar to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, from May 18, 2008, through May 23, 2008.

The selecting committee is comprised of two Forensic Technology employees with extensive firearm identification experience, two members of the forensic examination community (AFTE President and Board of Directors’ Senior Member at Large), as well as the presiding recipient of the Calvin H. Goddard Award. The committee will be asked to review submissions and will then arrive at a unanimous decision in terms of identifying the winning entry.

Ultimately, the Calvin H. Goddard Award is attributed to an individual or a group of individuals that has attained excellence through sustained superior performance, exemplary handling of a case, the implementation of best practices, or by providing the field of firearm identification with an outstanding or unique contribution.

The event has been held since 2001, and previous winners of this competition include Mike Boncimino, Michael Rice, Willie Oddendall, and most recently, John G. Ward.

We at Forensic Technology are very proud of this event as it celebrates an area of law enforcement that is as vital as ever, given the proliferation of shootings and the increase in gun-related violence around the world.

For those of us involved in the field of ballistics, the fact that this award is named after Major Calvin Hooker Goddard has major significance, as Major Goddard is credited with founding the science of firearm identification. Indeed, he first applied this science as part of the infamous 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre case, in which seven gangsters were killed by rival Al Capone mobsters dressed as Chicago police officers.

We invite you to visit the Calvin H. Goddard Award web site by clicking the following link: http://www.goddardaward.com. You will find more-detailed information regarding matters such as eligibility criteria, the scholarship awarded, and the nomination process. In particular, you will find an application form that must be either submitted online, or downloaded, printed and faxed no later than April 25, 2008.

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www.forensictechnologyinc.com