#26 Forensics For Free, John Paolucci

John Paolucci completed a diverse and groundbreaking career in the NYPD, spending his final eight (8) years as a supervisor in the Forensic Investigations Division. Four (4) of those years were spent as a Crime Scene Unit supervisor where he was responsible for responding to crime scenes to coordinate and assist in the identification, collection and documentation of all types of forensic evidence. He worked on many high profile cases and generated written synopses or ‘recaps’ that would be presented to executive level managers and often used to disseminate information to the media.

From the Crime Scene Unit, he was selected to be the first ever commanding officer of a new unit called the OCME Liaison Unit.  In this position, he would vet all DNA evidence submitted for analysis in the City of New York and was designated as the “One Voice” for the NYPD when outside agencies had any questions about forensic evidence either in the NYPD laboratory or at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) for DNA analysis. His efforts drastically reduced DNA analysis turn-around times in New York City, and as a result he was awarded the Unit Citation by the Mayor and Police Commissioner in 2010.  He was also promoted to Detective Sergeant in 2010.

John Paolucci reviewed thousands of cases, often examining photos to determine if the forensic evidence that was collected would benefit from analyses other than those requested by the investigators.  He worked with OCME to develop new protocols for documenting DNA evidence, and the entire NYPD’s forensic evidence collection practices were totally revamped based largely on laboratory analysis results that were collated and interpreted by Mr. Paolucci.  In this capacity he trained thousands of NYPD and other federal and local agencies on the probative value of forensic evidence, documenting forensic evidence, and collecting DNA exemplars from suspects.

In retirement, John formed Forensics 4 Real Inc. to impart his knowledge and understanding of forensic evidence and crime scene investigations to students of forensics as well as law enforcement first responders and investigators by providing a true to life perspective on how evidence is identified and handled in the field as well as in the laboratory.

He also works as an expert witness and has worked on homicide investigations in the states of Kentucky, Texas, South Carolina as well as his native New York State.  John was also hired to travel to Paraguay to exhume a body to collect DNA evidence as part of an international insurance fraud investigation.  Despite interference from the government that almost resulted in his arrest, John was able to conclude that the body buried in Paraguay was not the insured, saving the insurance company over $3 million.

(From his consulting site, https://www.forensics4real.com/ )

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