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Friction Ridge Subcommittee
The Friction Ridge Subcommittee focuses on standards and guidelines related to the forensic examination of friction ridge detail from the hands and feet.
Officers | Members | Standards | Other Work Products
Officers
Henry Swofford, Subcommittee Chair, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Heidi Eldridge, Subcommittee Vice Chair, George Washington University
Andrew Pacejka, Subcommittee Executive Secretary, Utah Bureau of Forensic Services
Members
Claudine Carter Pereira, Broward Sheriff's Office (Quality Task Group representative)
Simon Cole, Ph.D., University of California
Jack Flanders, Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory
Edward German, Macon County Sheriff's Office
Kalisha Gill, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL)
Nova Grilli, Charleston Police Department
Affiliate Members
Richard Gutierrez, Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender (Legal Task Group representative)
Mandi Hornickel, Illinois State Police
Sharon Kelley, University of Virginia (Human Factors Task Group representative)
Louis Kriel, Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Amanda Luby, Swarthmore College (Statistics Task Group representative)
Eric Ray, IDEMIA
Norberto Rivera, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Elizabeth Small, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Jim Snaidauf, IRS - Criminal Investigations National Forensic Laboratory
AshLee Taylor, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Christie VanAndel, Nebraska State Patrol
Standards
On the OSAC Registry
- OSAC 2021-N-0020, Best Practice Recommendations for Limited Examinations (added April 5, 2022 and sent to ASB for further development and publication).
- OSAC 2022-S-0012, Standard for Proficiency Testing in Friction Ridge Examinations (added June 7, 2022 and sent to ASB for further development and publication).
- OSAC 2022-N-0033, Standard for Processing Evidence for the Detection of Friction Ridge Impressions (added September 6, 2022 and sent to ASB for further development and publication).
Published by a Standards Developing Organization (SDO) & Eligible for the OSAC Registry
- ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 142, Best Practice Recommendations for the Resolution of Conflicts in Friction Ridge Examination, First Edition, 2022.
- ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 144, Best Practice Recommendations for the Verification Component in Friction Ridge Examination, First Edition, 2022.
At an SDO for Further Development & Publication
All documents listed below are completed work products of the OSAC Friction Ridge Subcommittee and have passed a rigorous technical and quality review by the subcommittee. The subcommittee encourages the forensic science community to implement these proposed standards.
- OSAC 2021-N-0020, Best Practice Recommendations for Limited Examinations (OSAC Proposed Standard on the Registry).
- OSAC 2022-S-0012, Standard for Proficiency Testing in Friction Ridge Examinations (OSAC Proposed Standard on the Registry).
- OSAC 2022-N-0033, Standard for Processing Evidence for the Detection of Friction Ridge Impressions (OSAC Proposed Standard on the Registry).
- Best Practice Recommendation for the Resolution of Conflicts in Friction Ridge Examination (as of January 17, 2023, the Friction Ridge Subcommittee is evaluating the published version of this document, ANSI/ASB 142, for placement on the OSAC Registry).
- Best Practice Recommendations for the Verification Component in Friction Ridge Examination (as of January 17, 2023, the Friction Ridge Subcommittee is evaluating the published version of this document, ANSI/ASB 144, for placement on the OSAC Registry).
- Best Practice Recommendation for Articulating a Source Identification in Friction Ridge Examination.
- Standard for Friction Ridge Examination Conclusions.
- Standard for Friction Ridge Examination Training Program.
- Standard for Examining Friction Ridge Impressions.
- Best Practice Recommendations for Technical Review in Friction Ridge Identification.
- Standard for Consultation During Friction Ridge Examination.
- Best Practice Recommendation for Analysis of Friction Ridge Impressions.
- Best Practice Recommendation for Comparison and Evaluation of Friction Ridge Impressions.
- Standard for Reporting Results from Friction Ridge Examinations.
- Best Practice Recommendation for Testimony Monitoring.
Under Development
- OSAC 2022-S-0038, Standard for Feature Selection in Friction Ridge Examination.
- Detection of Friction Ridge Impressions.
- Automated Biometric Identification Systems (ABIS) Best Practices.
- Method Validation.
- Case Acceptance Criteria.
- Performance Checks.
- Recruiting/Selection Requirements (for pattern recognition disciplines).
Other Work Products
Process Maps
- Friction Ridge Process Map, December 2019.
Reference Documents
- OSAC Friction Ridge Subcommittee's Response to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology's (PCAST) Request for Additional References - Submitted December 14, 2016.
- OSAC Friction Ridge Subcommittee's Response to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology's (PCAST) Request for Information – Submitted December 2015.
Research & Development Needs
- See the research and development needs identified by the Friction Ridge Subcommittee.
Standards Development Maps
Webinars, Presentations & Training Videos
- Friction Ridge Subcommittee Updates, International Association for Identification (IAI) Conference, August 2021.
- Friction Ridge Subcommittee, SAC Physics/Pattern Updates, IAI Conference, August 2019.
- OSAC Friction Ridge Subcommittee at OFIA-TPS Conference, May 30, 2019.
- Friction Ridge Subcommittee, SAC Physics/Pattern Update, Habeas Assistance and Training Counsel Project, Eighth National Seminar on Forensic Evidence and the Criminal Law “Fingerprint Evidence", April 27, 2019.
- OSAC Friction Ridge Subcommittee, IAI Conference, August 2018.
Discipline-Specific Bibliographies and Bibliographic References
These documents may contain information to help forensic scientists, judges, lawyers, researchers, and other readers better understand the nature, scope, and foundations of the individual disciplines as currently practiced. The identification of these documents does not represent an endorsement by OSAC or NIST. Only standards that are posted on the OSAC Registry and Technical Guidance documents, are endorsed by OSAC. The referenced documents may be subject to copyright. Note: Subcommittee position statements or responses to data collections by the subcommittee do not necessarily represent the position of OSAC or NIST.
- SWGFAST Position Statement on the Role of AFIS Ranks and Scores and the ACE-V Process.
- SWGFAST Guideline for the Articulation of the Decision-Making Process for the Individualization in Friction Ridge Examination (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard Friction Ridge Automation Training (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for the Application of Blind Verification of Friction Ridge Examinations (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Recommendations for Competency Testing of Noncertified Latent Print Examiners (Latent) Position Statement.
- SWGFAST Standard for Consultation (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standards for Examining Friction Ridge Impressions and Resulting Conclusions (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standards for Examining Friction Ridge Impressions and Resulting Conclusions (Latent/Tenprint) Draft for Comment.
- SWGFAST A Model Policy for Friction Ridge Examiner Professional Conduct (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standards for Minimum Qualifications and Training to Competency for Friction Ridge Examiner Trainees (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for a Quality Assurance Program in Friction Ridge Examinations (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for the Definition and Measurement of Rates of Errors and Non-Consensus Decisions in Friction Ridge Examination (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for Simultaneous Impression Examination (Latent).
- SWGFAST Standard for Friction Ridge Impression Digital Imaging (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for Reporting Friction Ridge Examinations (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for the Documentation of Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification (ACE-V) (Latent).
- SWGFAST Standard for the Documentation of Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification (ACE-V) in Tenprint Operations (Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for Friction Ridge Comparison Proficiency Testing Program (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for the Review of Testimony of Friction Ridge Examiners (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard Terminology of Friction Ridge Examination (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for the Technical Review of Friction Ridge Examinations (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Uniform Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) Feature Symbols Position Statement (Latent/Tenprint).
- SWGFAST Standard for the Validation and Performance Review of Friction Ridge Impression Development and Examination Techniques (Latent/Tenprint).