The Canadian Identification Society (CIS) is a bilingual (English- French) 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 (SCI)

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 O. Tiller
• Howard Hall
• Clayton Bigras
• Roger Remillard
• Richard Jordon
• Allen Wrenshall
• Donald Braithwaite
• Harold G. Tuthill
• Donald Guttman
• Ronald Duck

Although the Society is mainly a Canadian organization including more than eight hundred (800) members through Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, it also gathers members of the United States of America, Australia, United Kingdom as well as others international communities.

Mission and goals

The Canadian Identification Society (CIS) is a professional association for those engaged in forensic identification

Forensic identification

Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts"....

, 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 O. Tiller (1977–1978)
• Scott J.J. Raybould (1978–1979)
• C.F. Cecil Brown (1979–1980)
• Donald Nelson (1980–1981)
• William R. Pryde (1981–1982)
• Archie G.A. Purgavie (1982–1983)
• John E. Duncan (1983–1984)
• S.H. Sim Wentzell (1984–1985)
• Robert L. Bridgewater (1985–1986)
• Kenneth J. Collier (1986–1987)
• William Donald Dixon (1987 - +)
• Spencer M. Hilton (1987–1988)
• Ross E. Reed (1988–1989)
• Donald F. Taylor (1989–1990)
• H. Gregg McKinnon (1990–1991)
• James R. McConnell (1991–1992)
• Anthony J. Bouwmeester (1992–1993)
• Janet N. Holt (1993–1994)
• Ronald E. Yeomans (1994–1995)
• Herbert J.M. Durand (1995–1996)
• Bryan Amos (1996–1997)
• J.D. Bert Hudon (1997–1998)
• Robert B. Kennedy (1998–1999)
• Brent Walker (1999–2000)
• Scott Brown (2000–2001)
• Henry Kinsella (2001–2002)
• John P. (Pat) Downey (2002–2003)
• Glen Saunders (2003–2004)
• Mary Beeton (2004–2005)
• Grant Boulay (2005–2006)
• Paul Gagnon (2006–2007)
• Shelly Massey (2007–2008)
• Alexandre Beaudoin
  Alexandre Beaudoin
  Alexandre Beaudoin is a Quebec fingerprint scientist known for inventing a technique for developing latent fingerprints on dry and/or wet porous surfaces . -Biography:...
  
   (2008–2009)
• Matthew Lewandowski (2009–2010)
• Stuart Wyatt (2010 - 2011)
• Wade Knapp (2011-2012)

+ = Deceased while president

The Tiller Award

Christopher O. 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
  Alexandre Beaudoin
  Alexandre Beaudoin is a Quebec fingerprint scientist known for inventing a technique for developing latent fingerprints on dry and/or wet porous surfaces . -Biography:...
  
  
• Bruce Hamblin
• Grant Boulay

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
  Brian E. Dalrymple
  Brian E. Dalrymple is an Ontarian fingerprint scientist known for introducing for the first time the use of lasers as a forensic light sources for fingerprints and other evidence detection, using the Argon Ion Lasers to detect the inherent fluorescence of the latent fingerprints and finding...
  
  
• Harold G. Tuthill
• Robert A. McPherson
• Jack Milligan
• Maurice E. Wolff
• Paul Morin
• David Ashbaugh
  David R. Ashbaugh
  David R. Ashbaugh is a Canadian police officer known for is extensive research on the friction ridge identification, introducing for the first time the use of the term ridgeology in forensic identification and the ACE-V methodology...
  
  
• Robert B. Kennedy
• Pat Laturnus
• Maurice Nadeau
• Alexandre Beaudoin
  Alexandre Beaudoin
  Alexandre Beaudoin is a Quebec fingerprint scientist known for inventing a technique for developing latent fingerprints on dry and/or wet porous surfaces . -Biography:...
  
  
• Della Wilkinson

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 $500.00 (Canadian), for individuals engaged in forensic research.

Recipients:

• John Badowski (1989)
• Byron Ferguson (1990)
• David Ashbaugh
  David R. Ashbaugh
  David R. Ashbaugh is a Canadian police officer known for is extensive research on the friction ridge identification, introducing for the first time the use of the term ridgeology in forensic identification and the ACE-V methodology...
  
  (1991)
• Ron Yeomans (1994)
• Tara Nicholls (2000)
• Zain Bhaloo (2009)

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

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 (Canadian), 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

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 (1977–1978)
• Ivan Brown (1978–1979)
• L.M. Schulhauser (1979–1981)
• Jack Milligan (1981–1989)
• Neala Taylor (1989–2002)
• Della Wilkinson (2002 -)

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.

• 1978 – Ottawa – Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
  
  /Canadian Police College
• 1979 – Regina – Regina Police Service
  Regina Police Service
  Regina Police Service, formed in 1892, is the municipal police force for the City of Regina, Saskatchewan.During the late 1890s, Regina was capital of the Northwest Territories, though not more than a collection of frame buildings and tents...
  
  
• 1980 – Peterborough - Peterborough Police Department
• 1981 – Vancouver – Vancouver Police Department
  Vancouver Police Department
  The Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...
  
  
• 1982 – Montreal – Service de police de la Ville de Montréal
  Service de police de la Ville de Montréal
  The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal is the police force for the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With about 4,400 officers and 1,600 civilian staff, it is the second largest municipal police agency in Canada after the Toronto Police Service and second largest in the province behind the...
  
  
• 1983 – Calgary – Calgary Police Service
  Calgary Police Service
  Calgary Police Service, formed in 1885, is the municipal police force for the City of Calgary, Alberta.- Organization :Founded in 1885, the current head of the CPS is Chief Rick Hanson...
  
  
• 1984 - St-John's – Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
  Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
  The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is a police force in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It provides policing to the communities of St. John's and the Northeast Avalon Peninsula, Corner Brook, Churchill Falls, and Labrador City....
  
  
• 1985 – Winnipeg – Winnipeg Police Service
  Winnipeg Police Service
  The Winnipeg Police Service is the police force of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.-History:When Winnipeg became a city in 1873, an election was held to select the city's new Mayor and Aldermen. Those appointed decided to hire city officials, including a Chief Constable. On February 23,...
  
  
• 1986 – Burlington – Halton Regional Police Service
  Halton Regional Police Service
  The Halton Regional Police Service provides policing service for the Regional Municipality of Halton, which is located at the western end of the Greater Toronto Area , in Ontario, Canada. Halton Region encompasses the City of Burlington and the Towns of Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills...
  
  
• 1987 – Victoria – Saanich Police Department
  Saanich Police Department
  The Saanich Police Department is the police force for the District of Saanich, British Columbia led by Chief Constable Mike Chadwick consisting of 149 sworn members, supported by 50 civilians and 35 volunteer Reserve Constables....
  
  
• 1988 – Toronto Metro – Toronto Police Service
  Toronto Police Service
  The Toronto Police Service , formerly the Metropolitan Toronto Police, is the police service for the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Canada and second largest police force in Canada after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...
  
  
• 1989 – Edmonton – Edmonton Police Service
  Edmonton Police Service
  Edmonton Police Service is the municipal police force for the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.-Organization:The current head of the EPS is Roderick Knecht....
  
  
• 1990 – Capital Region - 9 Dept's
• 1991 – Saint John - Saint John Police Department
• 1992 – Hamilton - Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Service
• 1993 – Vancouver – Vancouver Police Department
  Vancouver Police Department
  The Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...
  
  
• 1994 – Windsor - Windsor Police Department / Michigan-Ontario Identification Association
• 1995 – Halifax – Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
  
  
• 1996 – Orillia – Ontario Provincial Police
  Ontario Provincial Police
  The Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the the largest deployed police force in Ontario, and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...
  
  
• 1997 – Edmonton – Edmonton Police Service
  Edmonton Police Service
  Edmonton Police Service is the municipal police force for the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.-Organization:The current head of the EPS is Roderick Knecht....
  
  
• 1998 – Kitchener – Conestoga College
  Conestoga College
  The Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a public college based in Kitchener, Ontario in Canada.-History:The College was founded in 1967 as the Conestoga College of Applied Arts and Technology, one of many such institutions established in that time by the Ontario...
  
  
• 1999 – Fredericton – Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
  
  
• 2000 – Vancouver - Delta Police Department
  Delta Police Department
  The Delta Police Department is the police force for the district municipality of Delta, British Columbia, a suburban community in Metro Vancouver with a population of 102,661...
  
  
• 2001 – Ottawa – Ottawa Police Service
  Ottawa Police Service
  The Ottawa Police Service serves the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.-History:The OPS roots come from the formation of the "Bytown Association" in 1847. In 1855 Roderick Ross was the first Chief Constable for the newly formed City of Ottawa...
  
  
• 2002 – Mississauga – University of Toronto at Mississauga
• 2003 – Ottawa - Canadian Identification Society / International Association for Identification
  International Association for Identification
  The International Association for Identification is the largest forensic organization in the world.The IAI was originally formed as the "International Association for Criminal Identification" in October 1915...
  
  
• 2004 - St-John's – Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
  Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
  The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is a police force in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It provides policing to the communities of St. John's and the Northeast Avalon Peninsula, Corner Brook, Churchill Falls, and Labrador City....
  
  
• 2005 – Calgary – Calgary Police Service
  Calgary Police Service
  Calgary Police Service, formed in 1885, is the municipal police force for the City of Calgary, Alberta.- Organization :Founded in 1885, the current head of the CPS is Chief Rick Hanson...
  
  
• 2006 – Windsor – University of Windsor
  University of Windsor
  The University of Windsor is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students...
  
   / Canadian Society of Forensic Science / Canadian Identification Society
• 2007 – Montreal – Sûreté du Québec
  Sûreté du Québec
  Sûreté du Québec or SQ is the provincial police force for the Canadian province of Québec...
  
  
• 2008 – Halifax – Atlantic Canada Death Investigators / Canadian Society of Forensic Science / Canadian Identification Society
• 2009 - Vancouver - British Columbia Institute of Technology
  British Columbia Institute of Technology
  The British Columbia Institute of Technology , is a public, coeducational, academic institution of higher education in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The polytechnic has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with the main campus in Burnaby...
  
   / New Westminster Police Service
  New Westminster Police Service
  The New Westminster Police Service is the police force for the City of New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.The force was created in 1873 when the city council hired Jonathan Morey, a former sergeant with the Royal Engineers, Columbia detachment who stayed behind after the detachment was...
  
  
• 2010 - Orillia – Ontario Provincial Police
  Ontario Provincial Police
  The Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the the largest deployed police force in Ontario, and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...
  
  
• 2011 – Ottawa – Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...