Wanda English Burnett, Editor

Jerry Taul, a Batesville police officer, has won the coveted “William Bass Award,” according to Batesville Police Chief Stan Holt. The award was presented on July 18 by the National Forensic Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Holt said Officer Taul distinguished himself for outstanding achievement in what is recognized as the most prestigious Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) course in the entire nation. He further noted that the award was based on “overall achievement.”

He is believed to be the only officer in Indiana to win the coveted award, according to Holt. He further noted that Officer Taul is only one of eleven officers in the State of Indiana to even receive this extensive forensic training.

William Bass is a forensic anthropologist and founder of the University of Tennessee’s Body Farm. He is among the best known forensic scientists in the nation.

The training that Officer Taul participated in is an intensive 10-week program, the National Forensic Academy (NFA). He learned through classroom instruction, lab activities, field practicums in specialized courses. The goal of the academy is to prepare the crime scene investigator to recognize key elements and to improve the process of evidence recovery and submission.

The academy was a 400 hour training with 170 hours in a classroom setting and 230 hours in the field. Officer Taul excelled in the written and practical finals. Some of the training he received includes: arson, auto theft investigation, bloodstain pattern analysis, bombs, booby traps and threats at the scene, bullet trajectory and reconstruction, crime scene management, computer sketching and mapping, court room testimony, DNA, firearms and toolmark identification, footwear and tire impressions, latent fingerprint processing, photography, post mortem fingerprinting, trace evidence, weapons of mass destruction, bone scatter search, manners of death, wound pattern interpretation, human remains recovery and more.

Chief Holt noted that he is extremely proud of Officer Taul and expects his expertise to be “invaluable to the Batesville Police Department.

Ripley County Prosecutor Ric Hertel noted that this state of the art training “should greatly enhance the prosecution rate in both Ripley and Franklin counties.” He also commended the local officer for receiving this distinguished award.

Funding for the training was provided in part by both the Ripley County and Franklin County prosecutors.

Officer Taul began his career in 1999 as a communications officer with the Batesville Police Department. He went on the road as a patrolman in 2001 and was assigned to be a crime scene investigator for the agency in 2007.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Batesville Officer Jerry Taul searches for bomb fragments in an exploded vehicle during his training at the National Forensic Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Officer Jerry Taul