A MELKSHAM-based crime scene investigator (CSI) was presented with a long service award at last month’s Wiltshire Police Force Awards.
Regional CSI team leader, Phillip Webster, has worked in Melksham for 14 years, and currently works within the South West Forensics Collaboration
He was presented with his award at a ceremony last month by the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Sarah Troughton.
Philip’s citation said, “Phillip spent his first three years within the Fingerprint Lab using specialist techniques on exhibits to develop fingerprints and examined questioned documents; this work was also performed at major crime scenes. During this time he was fully trained, as a scenes of crime officer, (SOCO) as well as a fingerprint technician and received a distinction from the University of Durham for a Diploma in Crime Scene Examination. Phillip assisted in the development of ground-breaking digital fingerprint imaging systems (we were still using wet film in these days) and digital image enhancements for use in court – this work ended up on Tomorrow’s World and gained worldwide attention.
“Phillip pioneered the development and use of Luminol (blood visualisation) techniques within the UK and subsequently used them at several murder scenes, a first in the UK. He wrote guidelines for its use within Wiltshire Police. In 2003, Phillip transferred to be a scenes of crime officer (SOCO) in Swindon, spending three years here before relocating to the SOCO base at Melksham, where they were renamed crime scene investigators (CSIs).
“Phillip has spent the last 14 years within CSI at Melksham and as a SOCO / CSI he has worked at a vast number of complex crime scenes including aircraft crashes, fatal road traffic collisions and murders – to name but a few. He has also been a crime scene manager for numerous major and serious crime scenes within Wiltshire and Avon and Somerset. In 2016 Phillip was promoted to regional CSI team leader and works within the South West Forensics Collaboration.”
