CoESPU director visits USARAF mobile forensic labs
By Staff Sgt. Lance Pounds, U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs
VICENZA, Italy - Director of the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units, Italian Brig. Gen. Paolo Nardone, and his deputy, U.S. Army Col. Darius Gallegos, visited U.S. Army Africa's mobile forensic laboratories at Caserma Ederle, Jan. 25.
The visit was hosted by Mr. Brian Rankin, International Criminal and Investigative Assistance Program liaison to USARAF, and was part of an ongoing effort to improve the coordination between USARAF and CoESPU in support of both organizations' missions on the African continent.
Nardone and Gallegos were also accompanied by Capt. Giuseppe Guzzini and his team from the Investigative Science Section of Verona's Carabinieri Provincial Command.
Various specialists discussed the capabilities of mobile labs in underdeveloped or remote areas with Nardone and the Carabinieri investigative scientists.
"USARAF's deployable mobile forensic labs can handle just about anything a crime scene investigation lab deals with in the United States," said Gallegos.
Gallegos said some of the topics discussed included latent print examinations, DNA, firearms, tool-marking impressions and computer-aided forensics of explosive and narcotics chemistry.
"USARAF is the only Army service component command that manages these Level II labs," said Gallegos. "The lab has the capacity to assist crime scene investigation teams in both crime investigation and in some cases, assignments that require medical laboratory research, such as DNA analysis."
At a previous CoESPU visit, more than 70 police officers from 18 different countries were exposed to the lab's forensic capabilities.
Col. Gallegos stated this visit will form the foundation for future forensic exchanges and collaboration between USARAF and CoESPU personnel in efforts to expose police officers from around the world to the subject and equipment of forensics.