Mr. Carter started in Law Enforcement in the U.S. Army’s Military Police Corps, serving as a patrolman, investigator and crime scene technician. After serving in the military, he was employed as a patrolman with the Carlinville Police Department in Illinois, leaving when he was accepted into the Illinois State Police. He served almost 27 years with the ISP, retiring as Master Sergeant in 2009.
Since 1999, the Crime Scene Services Command utilized the services of Master Sergeant David W. Carter to provide bloodstain pattern analysis at the expert level. He completed over 300 hours of training and experimentation in the field and has been found qualified to provide expert testimony in 7 different Illinois Judicial Districts and the Appellate Court of Illinois. To date Carter has investigated over 200 death cases, analyzing bloodstains in more than 150 of those cases. He has also interpreted bloodstains in numerous other violent crime cases. Carter has also provided bloodstain pattern consultation to over 50 agencies.
Before retirement, Carter developed, introduced and implemented the Illinois State Police Statewide Bloodstain Analysis Program. He served as the range officer for the Forensic Service Command and was instrumental in the implantation of a patrol rifle program within the command. Carter also provided education and technical expertise in the fields of firearms, wound dynamics, ballistics, firearms, and general forensic crime scene skills such as fingerprinting, footwear and photography. Carter is certified as a bloodstain Pattern Examiner and as a Crime Scene Investigator by the Internal Association for Identification, and is a member of the Internal Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts.
