Michael F. LaForte

Senior Instructor & Director of Crime Scene Programs

Basic Crime Scene Processing

Advanced Crime Scene Processing

Crime Scene Photography

Michael F. LaForte retired from the Jacksonville (FL) Sheriff's Office in August 2003 after more than 29 years of service.

From 1975 to 1988, Mike worked in patrol riding beats in downtown Jacksonville and on the city's Eastside. He was Police Officer of the Month in November 1982. In November 1983, Mike was awarded the Medal of Valor for his actions in a bank robbery and shootout while off duty.

In July 1988, Mike transferred to the Crime Scene Unit. He has investigated over 9500 crime scenes and has taken more than 150,000 crime scene photographs. Since that time, he has processed more than 800 death scenes which include more than 500 homicide scenes. In November 1993, Mike recovered bloody fingerprints from a deceased human body using only an alternate light source and photography. The fingerprints were identified through AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System), and the suspect was in custody within 24 hours. The suspect confessed to the murder, as well as two others, making him a serial killer.

From March 2001 until his retirement, Mike was assigned as the instructor and training coordinator for the JSO Crime Scene Unit. He oversaw all training for the unit's 27 crime scene detectives, as well as training detective personnel from other units, patrol officers and police recruit classes on crime scene procedures. In October 2000, Mike was again awarded Police Officer of the Month for his work at numerous homicide scenes.

During his fifteen years as a crime scene investigator, Mike attended numerous schools for crime scene processing, photography, entomology, buried bodies, traffic homicide investigations and death scene investigations.

Mike is a certified instructor through Florida's Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission. He is an adjunct instructor for crime scene programs with the Institute of Police Technology and Management and an adjunct instructor at Florida Community College at Jacksonville teaching law enforcement and crime scene procedures to recruits at the Northeast Florida Criminal Justice Training Center. He is a member of the International Association for Identification and the Florida Division of the International Association for Identification.

Mike has trained law enforcement personnel from around the southeast United States.

Curriculum Vitae

Michael A. Knox

Associate Instructor & Director of Technical Crime Scene Reconstruction Programs

Bloodstain Pattern Evidence at Crime Scenes

Reconstruction of Shooting Incidents

Crime Scene Reconstruction

Currently a traffic homicide investigator with the Jacksonville (FL) Sheriff's Office, Michael has been a police officer for over thirteen years and was assigned to the Crime Scene Unit for nearly seven years. Michael has also worked a patrol officer and DUI enforcement officer.

During his career, Michael has investigated several thousand crime scenes of various types and over 250 death cases. Michael specializes in bloodstain pattern analysis, shooting incident reconstruction, technical evidence analysis, and crime scene reconstruction. He has testified in court as an expert in shooting incident reconstruction and has given technical testimony regarding the reconstruction of bullet trajectories, bloodstain pattern analysis, luminol application, and crime scene processing.

Michael has attended numerous training courses including basic crime scene processing, bloodstain pattern analysis, buried bodies/surfaces skeletons, alternate light source, crime scene reconstruction, digital photography, and traffic accident reconstruction courses. Michael holds an Associate in Science Degree in Criminal Justice Technology from Florida Community College at Jacksonville and is currently pursuing a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of North Florida.

Michael served as the full-time training coordinator for the Crime Scene Unit for over a year before splitting the training duties with another member of the unit. Michael has instructed law enforcement personnel from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Michael holds full accreditation as a traffic accident reconstructionist from the Accreditation Commission on Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR #1120).

Curriculum Vitae

http://www.knoxandassociates.com/