Cooperative Agreement 70NANB23H094

PURPOSE:THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE AND OBJECTIVE SOLUTION FOR TOOL AND FIREARM MARK COMPARISON AND DETERMINATION OF THE EVIDENTIAL STRENGTH OF EVIDENCE BASED ON REPRESENTATIVE MARK REFERENCE DATABASES.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:WITHIN THE SCOPE OF A MULTI-YEAR COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE NETHERLANDS FORENSIC INSTITUTE (NFI), NIST AND THE FBI, WE AIM AT REALIZING AND PROVIDING A FULLY TESTED AND EVALUATED OBJECTIVE SOFTWARE SOLUTION FOR TOOL AND FIREARM MARK COMPARISON AS WELL AS DETERMINATION OF THE EVIDENTIAL STRENGTH OF EVIDENCE BASED ON REPRESENTATIVE MARK REFERENCE DATABASES. THIS NEW PROJECT AIMS AT TAKING THE LAST STEP TOWARDS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOFTWARE IN CASEWORK, BY ADDRESSING FEEDBACK PROVIDED BY THE EXAMINERS IN PREVIOUS, AND ONGOING EVALUATION STUDIES. THIS WILL FURTHER STREAMLINE THE PROCESS AND SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE USER EXPERIENCE AND INCREASE ACCEPTANCE IN THE FIELD FOR THIS TOOL.THE STRATEGY TO REACH THIS GOAL IS BASED ON THREE PILLARS:1.) TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTDEVELOPMENT OF A SOFTWARE SOLUTION THAT ALLOWS THE USER TO BUILD REFERENCE DATABASES (DATA AND METADATA) FOR A LARGE VARIETY OF FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION, INTERACTIVELY DEFINE REGIONS OF INTEREST IN THE DATA TO DEFINE MARK TYPES, AUTOMATICALLY COMPARE THE MARKS ONE-TO-ONE, AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINE SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS, PROVIDE AN INTERFACE TO ADD CASEWORK DATA, DETERMINE THE EVIDENTIAL STRENGTH AND/OR IDENTIFICATION ERROR RATES OF A COMPARISON AND FINALLY GENERATE A REPORT OF THE OUTCOME. 2.) RESEARCHTHE ASSESSMENT OF THE VARIOUS POSSIBILITIES TO SET UP RELEVANT MARK REFERENCE DATABASES, BASED ON VARYING DATA PROPERTIES REFLECTED IN THE METADATA (E.G. THE AMMUNITION BRAND AND TYPE OR THE SUBSTRATE MATERIAL), AND DECIDING ON THE MOST APPROPRIATE STRATEGY FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKS (EACH WITH DIFFERENT PROPERTIES).3.) EVALUATIONUSAGE OF THE OBJECTIVE COMPARISON METHODS PROVIDED BY THE SOFTWARE TO COMPARE MARKS IN REAL CASEWORK AND COMPARE THE OUTCOME OF THE OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS TO THE OUTCOME OF THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH BY A FORENSIC EXAMINER. BASED ON THE RESULTS, A STRATEGY WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR STEPWISE INTEGRATION OF THE OBJECTIVE SYSTEM IN DAILY CASEWORK OF FORENSIC FIREARMS EXAMINERS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES:FIREARM EXAMINERS WILL HAVE A PEER TESTED METHOD WITH ACCESS TO A COMPREHENSIVE AND OBJECTIVE SOLUTION FOR FIREARM TOOLMARK COMPARISON AND A DETERMINATION OF THE EVIDENTIAL STRENGTH OF EVIDENCE BASED ON REPRESENTATIVE MARK REFERENCE DATABASES. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:FORENSIC SCIENTIST PRACTITIONERS IN THE FIREARM IDENTIFICATION SPECIALTY, OFFICERS OF THE COURT (PROSECUTION, DEFENSE ATTORNEYS), JUDGES, RESEARCHERS IN ACADEMIA AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS, AND THE PUBLIC WHO WILL SERVE AS JURORS WHERE SUCH EVIDENCE AND TESTIMONY WILL BE CONSIDERED IN COURT PROCEEDINGS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES:THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.