· web viewgeberth, 62, recently published the fourth edition of his massive textbook,...
TRANSCRIPT
Ex-cop still Teaching by the book
By JOHN MARZULLI
NEWS STAFF WRITER
FOR A NEW generation of homicide detectives, retired NYPD Lt. Commander Vernon J. Geberth is still on the job, which is bad news for bad guys. Geberth, 62, recently published the fourth edition of his massive textbook, “Practical Homicide Investigation; Tactics, Procedures, and Forensic Techniques (CRC Press), which is considered an indispensable bible in law enforcement.
The sensational murder of John Jay College student Imette St. Gillen in February was a topic of discussion at the course
'What's ironic about that case is you have a kid who studied to be a CSI [crime scene investigator] and she becomes the subject of a CSI investigation," Geberth told the Daily News.”
"The department is light years from when I performed as a commander [in 1987], 1 know that from speaking to people in the field about the assistance they get from the police laboratory and the equipment they have”, he said.
"You can have all the technology in the world, but if you haven't done the basic police procedures, you have nothing."
In the first edition in 1983, there wasn't anything about [ex�perience with] DNA, because it did not exist," Geberth said.
But the former commander of the Bronx Homicide squad isn’t sitting back waiting for enterprising detectives or police agencies to plunk down $89.95 for the book.
He was a speaker in June at the NYPD chief of detectives, ho�micide investigators course, pre�senting case histories that can form a frame of reference for gumshoes who haven't personal�ly probed or consulted on more than 8000 death investigations, as Geberth has.
Vernon J. Geberth