Canadian Identification Society


The Canadian Identification Society is a bilingual professional non-for-profit fellowship of police officers and civilian members who share interests and employment in crime scene investigation. Also known in French as Société Canadienne de l'Identité .
Although the Society is mainly a Canadian organization including more than eight hundred members through Canada, it also gathers members of the United States of America, Australia, United Kingdom as well as others international communities.

Creation

The CIS was officially created under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act on November 13, 1977, following the signature of the Letters Patent. The founding members of the CIS were:
  • Lloyd Dunham
  • Christopher D. Tiller
  • Howard Hall
  • Clayton Bigras
  • Roger Remillard
  • Richard Jordon
  • Allen Wrenshall
  • Donald Braithwaite
  • Harold G. Tuthill
  • Donald Guttman
  • Ronald Duck

    Mission and goals

The Canadian Identification Society is a professional association for those engaged in forensic identification, investigation, and scientific examination of physical evidence.
The CIS supports continuing research in all areas of forensic science and aims to keep members informed and current by providing excellent training opportunities and links to educational resources. It has served its members by encouraging forensic identification specialists to share their knowledge and experience.

President list

  • Christopher D. Tiller
  • Scott J.J. Raybould
  • C.F. Cecil Brown
  • Donald Nelson
  • William R. Pryde
  • Archie G.A. Purgavie
  • John E. Duncan
  • S.H. Wentzell
  • Robert L. Bridgewater
  • Kenneth J. Collier
  • William Donald Dixon
  • Spencer M. Hilton
  • Ross E. Reed
  • Donald F. Taylor
  • H. Gregg McKinnon
  • James R. McConnell
  • Anthony J. Bouwmeester
  • Janet N. Holt
  • Ronald E. Yeomans
  • Herbert J.M. Durand
  • Bryan Amos
  • J.D. Bert Hudon
  • Robert B. Kennedy
  • Brent Walker
  • Scott Brown
  • Henry Kinsella
  • John P. Downey
  • Glen Saunders
  • Mary Beeton
  • Grant Boulay
  • Paul Gagnon
  • Shelly Massey
  • Alexandre Beaudoin
  • Matthew Lewandowski
  • Stuart Wyatt
  • Wade Knaap
  • Shawna Laird
  • John Aitkenhead
  • Dwayne Raymond
  • Jessica Piekny
  • Tamryn Loy Son
  • Tiffany deLeon
+ = Deceased while president

Awards

The Tiller Award

Christopher D. Tiller, one of the founding members of the CIS, created the Tiller Award for CIS members who have demonstrated excellence in law enforcement photography. This award is offered on an annual basis. Only members in good standing with the CIS are eligible to apply.
Recipients:
  • Archie G.A. Purgavie
  • Brian Ward
  • Angus Noseworthy
  • Kenneth Lugg
  • David Zauner
  • Carey Smith
  • David Banks
  • Wayne Harnum
  • David E. Black
  • Gary Leydier
  • Al Misner
  • David J. Hamer
  • Alexander D. McMurrich
  • Douglas Handy
  • Ronald M. Gilbert
  • Leonard B. Shaw
  • Robert B. Kennedy
  • Joseph Slemko
  • W. Derrick Swiderski
  • William B. Benjamin
  • Suki Thind
  • Michael Reid
  • Sharon Smith
  • John D. Stewart
  • Alexandre Beaudoin
  • Bruce Hamblin
  • Grant Boulay
  • Denis P. Turcotte

    The Edward Foster Award

This award is named after Edward Foster, the founder of the fingerprint system in Canada, and is intended to encourage CIS members to conduct research that shall benefit the Forensic Identification profession. This award point out the great contribution of the recipient to Forensic Identification field in his career.
Recipients:
  • Brian E. Dalrymple
  • Harold G. Tuthill
  • Robert A. McPherson
  • Jack Milligan
  • Maurice E. Wolff
  • Paul Morin
  • David Ashbaugh
  • Robert B. Kennedy
  • Pat Laturnus
  • Maurice Nadeau
  • Alexandre Beaudoin
  • Della Wilkinson
  • Rick Devine

    The William Donald Dixon memorial research and essay Awards

William Donald Dixon, one of the founding members of the Canadian Identification Society, created two research awards, each in the amount of Can$500.00, for individuals engaged in forensic research.
Recipients:
  • John Badowski
  • Byron Ferguson
  • David Ashbaugh
  • Ron Yeomans
  • Tara Nicholls
  • Zain Bhaloo
  • Requell Weisbrod

    The Michael J. Cassidy Award

Michael J. Cassidy made significant contributions to footwear comparison and identification. This award is intended to encourage professionalism and innovation in footwear evidence recovery and identification, by recognizing excellence in footwear comparison. Only members in good standing with the CIS are eligible to apply.
Recipients:
  • Wayne Harnum
  • Don Hulsman
  • Rob Gervais
  • Shelly Massey
  • Bruce Hamblin

    The Jack Milligan achievement Award

Jack Milligan is one of the early founding members of the Canadian Identification Society. Three awards, in the amount of $500.00, $300.00 and $200.00, are available for CIS members that have been recognized by their peers for their outstanding achievements in the field of fingerprints. The award can be cash, a voucher, or can be put toward a sponsorship to attend a future Annual Educational CIS Conference.
Recipients:
  • RCMP – Ottawa Latent Fingerprint Bureau
  • Bradley J. Butler
  • CIS Friction Ridge Certification Committee

    Journal

The organisation's quarterly publication, Identification Canada, is a peer-reviewed 40-page colour Journal. This journal is, for the most part, bilingual. It is a means of distributing findings on hi-tech methods and ideas from both technological and scientific fields of the forensic sciences, as well as, a venue for communicating training opportunities and the business of the Society.
Editors
  • Lloyd Dunham
  • Ivan Brown
  • L.M. Schulhauser
  • Jack Milligan
  • Neala Taylor
  • Della Wilkinson
  • Wade Knaap
  • Jessica Piekny

    Annual Educational Conference

Each year, the Canadian Identification Society provides a venue which brings together persons in the forensic professions. This Annual Educational CIS Conference is held by police forces of a different city in Canada.