NCJ Number
218445
Date Published
January 2006
Length
16 pages
Annotation
In response to the misidentification of a latent fingerprint, the senior management of the FBI Laboratory assigned a review committee to evaluate the basis for the science of friction-ridge skin impression pattern analysis and to recommend research for testing, where necessary, the hypotheses that underlie the bases of friction-ridge fingerprint comparisons as a means of identification.
Abstract
The committee concluded that although the use of friction-ridge skin impression pattern analysis is fundamentally sound, additional studies could improve confidence in the results obtained, provide guidelines for more consistent practices throughout the latent print community, and provide measures for assessing performance. The scientific areas where improvements in the practice can be made include validation, more objective criteria for certain aspects of the ACE-V (Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation-Verification) process, and data collection. Projects recommended by the committee are divided into "high priority" and "priority" categories. High priority projects pertain to quality, quantity, performance, and exclusions. Priority projects relate to permanence test, data collection, cluster impressions, and additional validation studies. For practical reasons, the committee reviewed only a small portion of the literature regarding current practices, scientific bases, and philosophies of the discipline. Further assessments were obtained by interviewing experts in fingerprint analyses, forensics, statistics, and legal issues. The committee also relied on the experience of its members regarding the fundamentals of fingerprint analysis and matching, as well as to develop recommendations for documentary and validation studies. 2 tables and 53 references