Water torture awaits ignorant criminals thanks to AFP divers’ new evidence retrieval skills

Criminals hiding bodies, murder weapons, cars and other crucial evidence in water have been put on notice as the AFP plunges into an Australian-first diving and forensics program.

The Australian Federal Police has launched its pilot Underwater Search and Evidence Recovery program. Picture: AFP

Criminals hiding bodies, murder weapons, cars and other crucial evidence in water could more ­likely be caught as the federal police dive team plunges into an Australia-first program that will enhance its forensic knowledge and search techniques.

The Australian Federal Police has launched a pilot Underwater Search and Evidence Recovery program that will equip divers with the best means to handle evidence to avoid contamination, package exhibits and take photos and videos of search processes while underwater.

AFP Maritime Team Detective Senior Constable Chris Markcrow told The Weekend Australian the idea came about after his divers visited Columbus, Georgia in 2022 to train alongside US dive teams under Mike Berry, a world-leading underwater criminal investigator.

The Australian divers helped search for a murder weapon in an active investigation focused on the Chattahoochee River.

“Previously, we didn’t really have any sort of underwater forensic training. Our police are trained forensically to a basic degree,” Senior Constable Markcrow said.

The AFP has launched its pilot Underwater Search and Evidence Recovery program. Picture: Australian Federal Police

“The main thing that came out of that course is that it provided an insight to what’s actually forensically possible underwater because up until that point, we were just under the impression that nothing was possible.

“(What stood out is) fingerprints and DNA, to a degree, don’t degrade underwater like everyone thought they did, and part of the US course was that we actually took fingerprints while being underwater, it’s sort of mind-blowing that this was available.”

The dive team asked AFP’s forensics team if it could develop its own program. While USER is still in its early stages, new recruits and employees undergoing refresher courses will be trained in the new forensic capability.

The program involves a three-hour session on forensics and on-the-ground drills where divers retrieve a fake body and items, and package evidence in different water conditions. During underwater searches, divers can communicate via radio with forensic crime scene specialists on dry land.

“Certain criminals just have a certain way of doing things. So if you get a run of criminals who like to dispose of violence in the water, then, of course, our requirement for numbers of tasks greatly increases,” Senior Constable Markcrow said.

The senior officer, part of the international team that rescued a group of Thai schoolboys and their soccer coach trapped in a flooded cave in 2018, said the training would increase the likelihood of maintaining forensics and DNA on items of interest.

AFP divers preparing to lift a submerged vehicle. Picture: AFP

“It is very common practice (to dump items in water). It’s especially common because, like myself, crooks just thought once something goes into the water, then there’s no more fingerprints or DNA, but that’s all changed.”

AFP forensics officer Eva Bruenisholz said contamination was the big enemy at crime scenes.

“Depending on the type of water, things can be preserved extremely well. The good thing about water is that in quite a few cases, it’s cold and there’s no UV,” Dr Bruenisholz said.

“We know fingerprints are made of two types of chemicals. One is fattiness and one is just sweat. Obviously the sweat part will go in the water, but the fatty part, that will remain in the water.

“Salt is the enemy of a lot of body fluids, so it’s obviously not the good friend of DNA.”

Dr Bruenisholz said she was closely watching France, which is ahead of the pack in advanced techniques regarding forensics and diving. “In trials in France, you can reveal a fingerprint under the water right at the scene and you even collect the DNA under the water rather than bringing it out.”

The program will be rolled out over the next 12 months to AFP Maritime Team members, and could be expanded to other law enforcement agencies.