Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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I wish
Jim had a problem. He explained to me that some valuable computer equipment had disappeared from a locked office. There were only two keys to the lock on the door and his insurance company would not settle the claim because, to put it bluntly, they suspected him of having
removed the equipment.
to question him about professional examination of the lock and locking devices, he replied that the police had only checked for signs offorced
entry.
One of my major pet peeves is the
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enforcement agencies as to the forensic examination of locks and security devices. Unfortunately, this is a field which is sadly lacking in trained, professional investigators. In most cases the field investigator has little knowledge of forensics as a science and no understanding of
locksmithing as a field of expertise.
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As locksmiths, we too are not always sufficiently trained to recognize the signs of what I call "covert" entry versus "forced entry." Covert entry is when the perpetrator has entered a locked or controlled
area without leaving any obvious signs
foun a cou?le of eupiaiou looking cralahe an oome efinite inentalion aroun lhe e6e of llhe ayliner.
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s Jim finished telling me his tale /-lof woe, I felt sorry for him, not
only as a friend but as a person who felt he had nowhere to turn to resolve his problem. I explained to him the
furnished with
a push bar panic device and no external lock. This door was an
for kn
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I believe we need to better epare ourselves by learning as much as we can about the forensic locksmithing field or "investigative locksmithing" if
you prefer that term. We can then sell
lVe made an appointment for the following morning and he left a little happier than when he arrived. I told him not to get his hopes too high, because I couldn't guarantee I would find anything. However, it wouldn't
hurt to look. Early the next morning we met for breakfast and then he took me to the building where the loss had occurred. Quite simply, it was a relatively small
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office in a modern building. There were no windows which could be opened and only two doors through which a person could gain entrance.
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anyone had opened or attempted to open the door in that manner. The door hinges were mounted on the
inside
it closely on all sides. As you can see in Photograh 2, there were definite
signs of a wrenching attack on this cylinder. At two different places around the rim there were marks left by what I believe to be either a pair of
so
couple of suspicious looking scratches and some definite indentations around the edge of the cylinder (see
Photograh 1).
channel locks or vice grips (see If a suspect with tools was ever found, we could do a comparison to determine if any of
Photograh 3).
those tools matched the marks.
an
/-lcylinder,
S,fhere were mark left by what I believe lo be either a air ot
ahannel lock or vice grip,
I then removed
the
unauthorized attack had been made, I checked the sides of the cylinder for
A quick visual check revealed no obvious signs of bypass to this door, such as drilled holes through which someone could have inserted a wire or string and opened the exit push-bar
undamaged paint on them and there were no "jimmy" or shove knife marks
for last for two reasons; first, I didn't know what kind of examination the police might have conducted and the
marks they might have made, second, I wanted to be sure t had eliminated all other possibilities first.
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WHAT DO YOU NEED?
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fhe first thing I examined was the I door and jamb. I looked for pry
lock for pick, rake or other by-pass tool marks. The lock was clean. Without disassembling the lock I couldn't be 100% certain there had been no aLtack, but I decided to save
that for the last resort.
marks around the strike. There were none. I examined the keyway of the
iertical portion of the jamb met the top cross-Piece' tn an attempt to deermine if a,,Jamb Spreader" had
I checked the door jamb and the ioints at the juncture where the
INSTITUTIONAL, ELEVATOR, ESCALATOR, LOCKER and MARINE (nonCOTTOSiVE) LOCKS. ..AND OTHERS.
been used. There were absolutely no marks or indications of any kind that
Circle 422 on Rapd Reply
July 1997
. tL7
me to feel comfortable in putting that into a report. However, first we had to contact the building manager
was
to determine if there had ,been any locksmith work done on that particular lock in the recent past. I could tell it was a recent attack because the brass, which had been scratched, had not tarnished or oxidized in any manner. After
determining that there had been no known service performed on that lock, we made an appointment to
see Jim's boss.
"good guys." If the police had investigated as I did, found the evidence and understood its
You and I have knowledge and understanding of locks, their weaknesses and the by-pass techniques which can be used
against them. What we have to do is
what
I had done and what the results indicated and showed him the photographs. In a short period of time, Jim received an apology for the unspoken suspicion. The fact remains that there was sufficient evidence to prove a break-in had
company has been introduced to the
learn to recognize the indications that these techniques leave behind, replicate them in a laboratory situation and establish our
occurred and one done by a relatively competent thief, not a "smash and grab" guy, This
concept of forensic locksmithing and is now aware of some of the things that can be done. While this case did not result in the capturing of a "bad guy" it did remove suspicion from one of the
found. There is a need for our rve are the only ones services
perform them who can - so why aren't we making use of these skills and earning money from helping the
good guys and beating the bad ones.
After all, isn't that the main purpose of our existence? Study, grow, expand and live a better life. I[
ai o n
SO THE LOCK WAS REPLACED AFTER THE BURGLAR LEFT? THE CYLINDER WAS NOT LOOSE???
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Whee&mg, tir"lots
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