Cooperative Agreement 2014IJCXK003

This $746,866 federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants program (CFDA 16.560) will fund a comprehensive, multiphasic study to characterize the emerging forensic discipline of hand image comparison. The key products and services to be delivered under this 3-year award include: Establishing a Hand Comparison Working Group (HAND-WG) to provide expert input on the study's approaches Conducting a survey to...

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) received a $181,800 Project Grant under the U.S. Department of Justice's Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program (CFDA 16.742) to purchase two full spectrum imaging systems (FSIS) and provide training to improve the effectiveness of the department's latent print detail and crime scene investigations. The FSIS will enhance LVMPD's ability to detect and recover latent fingerprints from various surfaces, increasing the...

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office Crime Laboratory will utilize a $386,800 grant award from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Improvement Grant Program to purchase specialized firearms 3D high-capacity imaging and analysis systems and an associated warranty. The laboratory will employ a patented hardware platform and fifteen cartridge case scanning tray capable of scanning multiple calibers of...

This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Justice (CFDA 16.560 - National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants) provides $399,437.00 to Iowa State University of Science and Technology to develop a semi-empirical kinetics model for determining the time-since-deposition of latent fingerprints. The researchers aim to rigorously establish a reliable method to estimate when a fingerprint was deposited at a crime scene, which can help link suspects to...

The Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) Forensic Sciences Division a $375,206 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant to enhance the quality and timeliness of forensic science analysis, including latent print processing. The grant will fund the purchase of advanced equipment such as a vacuum metal deposition system and FSIS-II color imaging system to improve latent print detection and documentation. It will also provide specialized...

This Project Grant award of $111,000 from the National Institute of Justice (CFDA 16.560) to Iowa State University of Science and Technology will fund research to develop machine learning methods for extracting information from fingerprint samples. The first aim is to determine the time-since-deposition of a fingerprint, which could help investigators establish when a crime occurred. The second aim is to analyze fingerprint chemistry to infer the physical activity level of the individual,...

This Project Grant award, valued at $487,790, was provided by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under the Forensics Training and Technical Assistance Program (CFDA 16.044). The award to Florida International University (FIU) aims to implement a comparative evaluation of the Minion and MiSeq sequencing platforms for analyzing human hand microbial profiles as a potential forensic investigative tool. The project activities include: Comparing the performance of the Minion and MiSeq platforms...

This Cooperative Agreement award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), under the Federal Grant Program for Measurement Science and Engineering (CFDA 11.609), provides $199,989 to the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) to conduct research on forensic facial examiner performance and methods for effectively combining human and machine face recognition systems. The key products and services to be delivered include: Administering a test to forensic examiners to assess their...

This federal Project Grant award, provided by the National Institute of Justice under the Forensics Training and Technical Assistance Program (CFDA 16.044), aims to calibrate a proposed conclusion scale for pattern comparison disciplines by computing consensus-based likelihood ratios. The $609,185 award to the Trustees of Indiana University, which runs from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026, has three primary deliverables: Publish the image pairs, examiner response distributions, and...

The City of Phoenix Police Department was awarded a $266,569 Project Grant under the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program (CFDA 16.742). The funding will be used to acquire a Gel Lift Scanner Forensic Photography (GLSCAN FP) imaging system and full-frame mirrorless camera setups to enhance the efficiency, quality, and timeliness of crime scene evidence collection and processing within the department's Evidence...