Forensic interlaboratory evaluations of a systematic method for examining, documenting, and interpreting duct tape physical fits

Prusinowski, Meghan; Brooks, E. J.; Neumann, Cédric; Trejos, Tatiana

doi:10.1016/j.forc.2023.100487

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, interlaboratory studies conducted using the ESS methods for both tape and textiles have led to improved documentation of features for both materials. Interlaboratory studies show an overall accuracy of 95%-99% for the duct tapes [12] and 89% for the textiles [15]. This paper complements the mathematical tools that we have proposed previously by adding mutual information and decision trees as fundamental data analysis tools.…”

Section: Highlightsmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Among those publications, the most common materials include metal, tapes, textiles (including ropes and cords), glass, ceramics, polymers, and paper [6][7][8][9]. To address the need to demonstrate the scientific validity of physical fit comparisons, recent studies have included larger datasets to estimate error rates for physical fit comparisons and critical factors for the quality of a physical fit [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Experimental results on data analysis algorithms for extracting and interpreting edge feature data for duct tape and textile physical fit examinations

Prusinowski,

Tavadze,

Andrews

et al. 2023

Journal of Forensic Sciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A physical fit is an important observation that can result from the forensic analysis of trace evidence as it conveys a high degree of association between two items. However, physical fit examinations can be time‐consuming, and potential bias from analysts may affect judgment. To overcome these shortcomings, a data analysis algorithm using mutual information and a decision tree has been developed to support practitioners in interpreting the evidence. We created these tools using data obtained from physical fit examinations of duct tape and textiles analyzed in previous studies, along with the reasoning behind the analysts' decisions. The relative feature importance is described by material type, enhancing the knowledge base in this field. Compared with the human analysis, the algorithms provided accuracies above 90%, with an improved rate of true positives for most duct tape subsets. Conversely, false positives were observed in high‐quality scissor cut (HQ‐HT‐S) duct tape and textiles. As such, it is advised to use these algorithms in tandem with human analysis. Furthermore, the study evaluated the accuracy of physical fits when only partial sample lengths are available. The results of this investigation indicated that acceptable accuracies for correctly identifying true fits and non‐fits occurred when at least 35% of a sample length was present. However, lower accuracies were observed for samples prone to stretching or distortion. Therefore, the models described here can provide a valuable supplementary tool but should not be the sole means of evaluating samples.

show abstract

Section: Highlightsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Experimental results on data analysis algorithms for extracting and interpreting edge feature data for duct tape and textile physical fit examinations

Prusinowski,

Tavadze,

Andrews

et al. 2023

Journal of Forensic Sciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the literature, several types of studies, including case studies, fractography research, and quantitative evaluations of fits, demonstrate the value of physical fits for various materials [1,[6][7][8][9][10]. In a preceding study, we developed and evaluated the edge similarity score (ESS) method for the comparison of physical fits of duct tapes [1,10,11]. This study expands the method for textile physical fits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, no quantitative approaches exist for physical fit comparisons of textiles that formally assess performance rates for these materials or describe specific features and characteristics that could be useful in a physical fit comparison. However, studies on physical fits of duct tapes [1,[8][9][10][11][12][13] provide a strong foundation for textiles due to some common characteristics between textiles and tape, such as the use of a woven reinforcement layer in the duct tape that is of a similar construction as a traditional textile. Despite this similarity, there are significant differences in the physical and chemical structures of textiles and duct tapes that require developing and evaluating material-specific methods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing physical fit examinations of stabbed and torn textiles through a large dataset of casework‐like items and interlaboratory studies

Andrews,

Prusinowski,

Nguyen

et al. 2023

Journal of Forensic Sciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Several organizations have outlined the need for standardized methods for conducting physical fit comparisons. This study answers this call by developing and evaluating a systematic and transparent approach for examining, documenting, and interpreting textile physical fits, using qualitative feature descriptors and a quantitative metric (Edge Similarity Score, ESS) for the physical fit examination of textile materials. Here, the results from 1027 textile physical fit comparisons are reported. This includes the evaluation of inter and intraanalyst variation when using this method for hand‐torn and stabbed fabrics. ESS higher than 80% and ESS lower than 20%, respectively, support fit and nonfit conclusions. The results show that analyst accuracy ranges from 88% to 100% when using this criterion. The estimated false‐positive rate for this dataset (2% false positives, 10 of 477 true nonfit pairs) demonstrates the importance of assessing the quality of a physical fit during an examination and reveals that potential errors are low, but possible in textile physical fit examinations. The risk of error must be accounted for in the interpretation and verification processes. Further analysis shows that factors such as the separation method, construction, and design of the samples do not substantially influence the ESS values. Additionally, the proposed method is independently evaluated by 15 practitioners in an interlaboratory exercise that demonstrates satisfactory reproducibility between participants. The standardized terminology and documentation criteria are the first steps toward validating approaches to streamline the peer review process, minimize bias and subjectivity, and convey the probative value of the evidence.

show abstract

Using convolutional neural networks to support examiners in duct tape physical fit comparisons

Lang,

Tavadze,

Prusinowski

et al. 2023

Forensic Science International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Forensic interlaboratory evaluations of a systematic method for examining, documenting, and interpreting duct tape physical fits

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Experimental results on data analysis algorithms for extracting and interpreting edge feature data for duct tape and textile physical fit examinations

Experimental results on data analysis algorithms for extracting and interpreting edge feature data for duct tape and textile physical fit examinations

Assessing physical fit examinations of stabbed and torn textiles through a large dataset of casework‐like items and interlaboratory studies

Using convolutional neural networks to support examiners in duct tape physical fit comparisons

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About