John R. Vanderkolk
Unique Forensics LLC
Consultant in Forensic Comparative Science
Retired in 2005 as a First Sergeant Indiana State Police Fort Wayne Regional Laboratory Manager
Retired in 2020 as a civilian Indiana State Police Fort Wayne Regional Laboratory Manager
John R. Vanderkolk received a Bachelor of Arts degree in forensic studies and psychology from Indiana University in 1979. He became an Indiana State Police trooper in 1979 and then a crime scene technician (CSI) in 1983. In 1984, he was assigned as a criminalist in the laboratory, where he was trained in the disciplines of latent print, shoe/tire print, firearm/tool mark, and fracture/physical comparative examinations. He was promoted to regional laboratory manager in 1996. He retired as a police officer in 2005, was rehired as a civilian, and retired as the manager at the Indiana State Police Laboratory in Fort Wayne in 2020. He was hired as a senior forensics advisor within the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), where he served two years. After that, he retired from full-time work and continues to teach seminars and workshops and advise on forensic comparative science concerns, such as the James Parsons Ohio Innocence Project case.
John has provided many training workshops and lectures related to forensic comparative science for many international or regional seminars, criminal justice agencies, and universities. Beyond the United States, he has provided lectures or workshops in Canada, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China, Singapore, India, Slovakia, and Panama. Some of his other professional activities include having been a member of the Scientific Working Group on Friction Ridge Analysis, Study and Technology (SWGFAST), the Expert Working Group on Human Factors in Latent Print Analysis, the Physics/Pattern Scientific Area Committee for the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) reviewing the work product of the Friction Ridge, Forensic Document Examination, Footwear and Tire, Firearms and Toolmarks, and Bloodstain Pattern Analysis OSAC sub-committees, and is currently a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Forensic Identification (JFI).
Vanderkolk was awarded ‘Distinguished Member’ in the International Association for Identification (IAI), was a member of the IAI’s Standardization II committee, was the chair of the IAI’s Forensic Identification Standards Committee, and was the chair of the IAI’s Forensic Comparative Examination Committee.
Vanderkolk has authored or co-authored numerous journal articles on topics related to forensic comparative science, plus he authored the ‘Examination Process’ chapter of The Fingerprint Sourcebook and the book, Forensic Comparative Science – Qualitative Quantitative Source Determination of Unique Impressions, Images, and Objects. He has been collaborating with Dr. Thomas Busey of Indiana University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences since 2002 studying expertise in latent print examiners. He has been collaborating with Drs. Ashraf Bastawros and Barbara Lograsso of Iowa State University on fractured metal examinations. Plus, he was a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, reference the erroneous determination that Brandon Mayfield was the source of a finger print in the 2004 Madrid, Spain bombing case.