True Crime Tuesdays - Crime science in conversation

28.05.2024 17:00 SZ 15.21

Stacy Moak is a Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Alabama Birmingham, in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Moak also holds secondary appointments in Criminal Justice and Social Work. She has been a faculty fellow in service-learning, study abroad, and University Signature Core Development. Dr. Moak is a faculty associate with the Institute for Human Rights and works with the pre-law program. Dr. Moak provides community engagement activities for her students and the community by providing reentry simulations twice a year, simulating the first 4 weeks of transitioning from incarceration to community. In addition, Dr. Moak works closely with the Offender Alumni Association (OAA), a group of formerly incarcerated individuals who are working to improve the reentry process and reduce recidivism in their communities. For the past year, Dr. Moak served as the research partner for the Jefferson County Hospital Linked Violence Intervention Program which is a program that offers services to gunshot victims in Jefferson County Alabama beginning at bed side and continuing into the community. Dr. Moak has researched and witnessed the devastating affect that gun violence has on communities, families, children, and organizational structures designed to treat injuries and protect lives. Dr. Moak teaches Constitutional Law, Law and Society, Urban Politics, and Mural Art as Expressive Speech in her current teaching role. She also teaches Health Crime and Community for the social work program.

This talk focused on the nature of gun violence in America. First, the discussion outlined the constitutional "right to bear arms" contained within the second amendment to the US constitution. The talk examined the way that amendment has been interpreted by the courts to provide each individual citizen with the right to own firearms. The talk also examined individual state level policy in Alabama that further promotes gun ownership and inhibits law enforcement's ability to know how many guns are in circulation. We examined local laws in the city of Birmingham that attempt to curtail gun violence in schools and communities and discuss the push back from the state legislature against such regulations. The talk furthermore examined the impact of gun violence at the federal, state, and local level and the impact the violence has on families, schools, and communities. Finally, the talk discussed legislation proposed by the Biden administration that could impact gun violence and possible explanations for why the Congress has not passed this legislation.

With the kind support of alumni UNI graz.

16.04.2024 17:30 HS 15.02.

Christian Grafl studied law at the University of Vienna. He received his doctorate in 1983 and was awarded a teaching license for criminology and criminalistics by the Faculty of Law at the University of Vienna in 1999. In 2011, he was appointed Professor of Criminology and Criminalistics at the University of Vienna. Christian Grafl has been a lecturer at the University of Graz since 2001 and has been a (part-time) professor of criminology and criminalistics at the Institute of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Criminology since March 1, 2024, where he works primarily within the ZiK. In 1991, Christian Grafl was registered as a generally sworn and court-certified expert for criminology, document examination and writing. He has been a member of the Gesellschaft für Forensische Schriftuntersuchung (GFS) e.V. since 1992 and was its president from 2003 to 2011.

The aim of comparative handwriting analysis is to identify the author of a manuscript and/or to verify the authenticity of handwritten documents and any special conditions of origin. Forensic handwriting comparison thus differs from graphology, which attempts to establish a relationship between handwriting and a person's character. The lecture provides an insight into the tasks, principles and methods of handwriting comparison and presents the practice of handwriting experts.

With the kind support of alumni UNI graz.

16.01.2024 6 pm HS 15.02 and online

Dr. Isabella Klasinc is a forensic pathologist and general practitioner at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Medical University of Graz and is familiar with the assessment and evaluation of physical and sexual violence as well as homicides through her daily work. Since autumn 2022, Dr Klasinc has also been teaching "Introduction to Forensic Medicine" in the specialization "Criminology and Forensics".

For some time now, forensic scientists have been playing an increasingly important role in various TV series and crime thrillers. Already during the local inspection, they determine the cause and time of death with an expert eye and investigate on their own initiative. In this lecture, after a general introduction to the fields of activity of forensic medicine, the audience was given an impression of how the work of forensic doctors actually takes place and how forensic medicine can contribute to legal certainty through interdisciplinary exchange.

With the kind support of alumni UNI graz.

17.10.2023 6 pm HS 15.02 and online

Karoline Marko studied English/American Studies with a focus on linguistics at the University of Graz and specialized in forensic linguistics at the beginning of her dissertation. She is currently a research assistant at the Institute of English Studies and is publishing for her habilitation in the field of author analysis, among others. She has been coordinating the Forensic Linguistics certificate since fall 2020 and has been a Membership Officer of the Germanic Society for Forensic Linguistics (GSFL) since 2015.

Language is one of the most complex human abilities and yet one whose importance is often underestimated, especially in forensic science. However, it can be particularly helpful in this area, because language reveals more about a person than one might think. The language in an anonymous letter, for example, can contain clues about the perpetrator, special linguistic features allow suspicious persons to be included or excluded as perpetrators, and if there is no suspicious person, a linguistic profile can be created in order to generate initial clues for further investigations. This lecture gave an insight into the methods and tasks of forensic linguistics.

With the kind support of the alumni UNI graz.

30.05.2023 5 pm Mootcourt room and online

Daniela Peterka-Benton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Justice Studies at Montclair State University, New Jersey where she serves as the Program Director of the department's International Justice Concentration. She also has an appointment as the Academic Director of Montclair State's Global Center on Human Trafficking. In this capacity, she works on various research and educational initiatives for the center in collaboration with criminal justice agencies and community organizations. Dr. Peterka-Benton teaches numerous courses including, Human Trafficking, Introduction to International Justice, Crime and Globalization, and Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. Prior to her focusing on a full-time academic career, Daniela Peterka-Benton worked for the U.S. State Department's Office of Diplomatic Security at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, Austria.

This talk will focus on the nature of human trafficking in the United States including current trends and issues. Key legislation, rooted in the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which barred slavery and involuntary servitude in 1865, such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and its reauthorizations, and the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, will be discussed as part of a 'Whole-Government Approach'. Many decades into the fight against Human Trafficking, however, it has remained a difficult crime to identify, investigate, and successfully prosecute. Other issues highlighted in this talk are the difficulty collecting data on human trafficking, the ever-changing nature of this criminal practice and the lack of survivor engagement in anti-trafficking efforts.

True Crime Tuesdays?

As part of the Hans Gross Center for Interdisciplinary Criminal Sciences (ZiK) at the Institute of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Criminology, the event series "True Crime Tuesday" was launched.

On True Crime Tuesday, representatives from a wide range of "forensic" disciplines will address (interdisciplinary) criminal science issues. The aim of this series of events is not only to offer participants from science and practice a source of information on forensic science topics at the cutting edge, but also to create an interdisciplinary discussion and networking platform.

With the kind support of alumni UNI graz.

WELCOME by Gabriele SCHMÖLZER & Nina KAISER

Cold leads - insights into the practice of cold case investigations

Reinhard NOSOFSKY, Head of the "Cold Case Management" Unit at the Federal Criminal Police Office

When cold traces become hot....

Bloodstain pattern analysis as a means of crime reconstruction

Silke M.C. BRODBECK, expert for bloodstain pattern analysis and crime scene reconstruction

15.11.2022 5 pm Mootcourt room and online

Manuel Fliess is a forensic expert for weapons, ammunition and ballistics. In his work as a forensic expert, he has specialized in firearms offences, with a focus on the investigation of homicides.

The use of firearms in violent crimes and the resulting need for clarification has led to the development of a special discipline of ballistics - so-called court ballistics. Its task is to use scientific methods and procedures to investigate events and to examine and assess materials that are connected with criminally relevant events and that are characterized by the use of firearms.

The aim of the lecture was to convey the role and skills of court ballistics in judicial criminal proceedings. In addition, the participants were shown forensic working methods and the characteristics of firearm-specific traces were explained.

Link to the event: https: //rewi.uni-graz.at/de/veranstaltungen/detail/article/true-crime-tuesday-ballistik-2/

True Crime Tuesdays?

As part of the Hans Gross Center for Interdisciplinary Criminal Sciences (ZiK) at the Institute of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Criminology, the event series "True Crime Tuesday" was launched.

On True Crime Tuesday, representatives from a wide range of "forensic" disciplines will address (interdisciplinary) criminal science issues. The aim of this series of events is not only to offer participants from science and practice a source of information on forensic science topics at the cutting edge, but also to create an interdisciplinary discussion and networking platform.

The event series is supported by the JUS Club.

28.06.2022 5 pm Mootcourt room and online

Jeff Walker is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. In this capacity, he works with and conducts research with researchers in physical forensics (chemistry such as gunshot residue and biology such as DNA analyses) and digital forensics (such as credit card fraud, gang violence, and terrorism). Prior to this position, Dr. Walker served as a Special Agent in the US military specializing as a computer forensic examiner in major felony crime investigations. He is currently working on blending physical and digital forensics and the study of law and justice into a Crime Science program at his university.

This talk will look at some of the ways digital forensics techniques are helping solve crimes. In the^21st Century, almost all crimes leave digital footprints. Even simple crimes such as burglary often have traces of criminal actions such as phone calls, emails, and texts between the criminals. Other crimes have much more digital information to them, like human trafficking where the people who are trafficked are "advertised" on the internet. Gangs often post pictures of gang members on social media where they are displaying guns, drugs, money, and other parts of crime. And some crimes are almost exclusively digital in focus, such as credit card fraud where credit card numbers are stolen through hacking or phishing and then sold on internet sites. This talk will show some examples of these crimes and show how digital forensics can be used to investigate and solve crimes. Real-world examples will be discussed, and the future of the study of digital forensics as a crime-solving area of study will be addressed.

True Crime Tuesdays?

As part of the Hans Gross Center for Interdisciplinary Criminal Sciences (ZiK) at the Institute of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Criminology, the event series "True Crime Tuesday" was launched.

On True Crime Tuesday, representatives from a wide range of "forensic" disciplines will address (interdisciplinary) criminal science issues. The aim of this series of events is not only to offer participants from science and practice a source of information on forensic science topics at the cutting edge, but also to create an interdisciplinary discussion and networking platform.

The event series is supported by the JUS Club.