U.S. flag
      An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
        Here's how you know
      Here's how you know**Official websites use .gov**
            
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
      **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            
            A **lock** (
            A locked padlock
            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Menu

      
        close

            
            
                                              About NIJ
        
                    
  
          About NIJ
      
    
          The NIJ Director
          How NIJ Is Organized
          Mission and Guiding Principles
          Research and Development Process
          Strategic Framework
          Assessments of NIJ
          Annual Reports & Reports to Congress
          Staff Directory
          Funding & Awards
        
                    
  
          Funding & Awards
      
    
          Current Funding
          Forthcoming Funding
          Expired Funding
          Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
          Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
          Fellowship & Student Programs
          Travel Scholarships
          NIJ Challenge Program
          Library & Multimedia
        
                    
  
          Library & Multimedia
      
    
          NIJ Journal
          Podcasts
          Publications Listing
          Multimedia Listing
          Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
          Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
          Software & Databases
          Datasets
          Patents
          Topics
        
                    
  
          Topics
      
    
          Article Listing
          Corrections
          Courts
          Crime Prevention
          Crimes
          Drugs and Crime
          Equipment and Technology
          Forensic Sciences
          Youth Justice
          Justice System Reform
          Law Enforcement
          Tribal Crime and Justice
          Victims of Crime
          Events
        
                    
  
          Events
      
    
          NIJ 2024 Research Conference
          Scheduled Events
          On-Demand Events
          Research Meetings & Workshops
          NIJ-Hosted Online Training

                            
                                About
          Contact Us
          Subscribe
          Topics A-Z
                  Share
FacebookXLinkedInRedditPinterestEmail Home
                            Funding & Awards
 A Quantitative Assessment of Shoeprint Accidental Patterns with Implications Regarding Similarity, Frequency and Chance Association of Features
Award Information
Awardee
              West Virginia University Research Corporation
Award #
              2013-DN-BX-K043
Funding Category
              Competitive
Location
                    Morgantown, WV
Congressional District
              1
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2013
Total funding (to date)
              $389,321
Original Solicitation
              NIJ FY 13 Applied Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2013, $389,321)
As submitted by the applicant:
Significant advances in learning outcomes are being demanded of all forensic disciplines. This is particularly true of the forensic identification sciences, including the analysis and assessment of footwear impression evidence. In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences reported a deficit in knowledge concerning the evidentiary value of forensic shoeprint impressions (NAS 2009). The conclusions of this review body support continued studies to extend knowledge concerning the statistical assessment of similarity, and the relative frequency of class and accidental characteristics present in various populations. To address these mandates, the proposed project asserts that an appropriately constructed research study can have a 4-fold impact on the field of shoeprint impression evidence. To achieve this impact in a reasonable time frame, semi-automated procedures and metrics are sought, allowing for the rapid analysis of hundreds of exemplar and questioned prints. In support of this effort, the proposed research will design, implement and validate customized code required to rapidly extract relevant similarity and frequency estimates from shoeprint data. The end result will be a prototype program that can be easily utilized to (1.) determine a quantitative measure of similarity between patterns based on correlation or other appropriately determined comparison methodologies, (2.) facilitate training and proficiency efforts (e.g. databasing of exemplar and test impressions), (3.) help articulate findings and conclusions, and (4.) rapidly extract the relative probability of the chance occurrence of accidentals that share similar characteristics or positional information. This latter benefit should support, at minimum, long-term investigations regarding fundamental phenomenology such as the spatial prevalence/dominance, development, erosion, and coincidental association of accidental features and patterns in random and specific populations

To achieve these goals, more than 400 exemplar and questioned prints will be collected and compared over a 2.5 year time period. An accidental map of each shoe will be generated and used to populate descriptive feature vectors. Comparison of these vectors will result in similarity scores for known match and known non-match comparisons, providing a statistical assessment of the discrimination potential of accidental features and patterns that vary in both quality and totality. The results will deliver population frequency estimates regarding class and individual characteristics, the potential for false positives and negatives as a function of the number and type of accidentals present on an outsole, as well as recommendations regarding the use of automated and quantitative metrics of comparison for shoeprint evidence (e.g. current capabilities and future research initiatives such as variation in examiners' conclusions). In addition to the above, support of the proposed research will generate a long-term investment in the academic careers of three graduate students, and the opportunity for significant experiential learning at the undergraduate level.
ca/ncf



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Estimate of the Random Match Frequency of Acquired Characteristics in a Forensic Footwear Database
                  Empirically Observed and Predicted Estimates of Chance association: Estimating the Chance Association of Randomly Acquired Characteristics in Footwear Comparisons
                  Classification of Footwear OutSole Patterns Using Fourier Transform and Local Interest Points
                  A Quantitative Assessment of Shoeprint Accidental Patterns with Implications Regarding Similarity, Frequency and Chance Association of Features
                  Quantitative Assessment of Similarity Between Randomly Acquired Characteristics on High Quality Exemplars and Crime Scene Impressions via Analysis of Feature Size and Shape
                  Quantifying Randomly Acquired Characteristics on Outsoles in Terms of Shape and Position
                  Quantitative assessment of the discrimination potential of class and randomly acquired characteristics for crime scene quality shoeprints

  
Date Created: September 12, 2013
    
          Side navigation
  

        

  
  
              Current Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Forthcoming Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Expired Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
    
      
            
            
            
      Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
    
      
            
            
            
      Fellowship & Student Programs
    
      
            
            
            
      Travel Scholarships
    
      
            
            
            
      NIJ Challenge ProgramSimilar Awards
        
                      Impact of Relic DNA on Forensic Microbiome Applications in Criminal Investigations
                  "Examining the Effects of Back-End Release Discretion on Prison Populations and Length of Stay: A State-by-State Analysis"
                  Evaluating the reliability and accuracy of multiple geophysical methods in the search for clandestine graves
 Top

      National Institute of Justice

        
        
                        About NIJ
                    About NIJ
      
    
                  How NIJ Is Organized
      
    
                  NIJ Director
      
    
                  Research Disclaimer
      
    
                  Funding & Awards
                    Funding & Awards Home
      
    
                  Awards Listing
      
    
                  Current Funding
      
    
                  Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
      
    
                  Resources
                    Events
      
    
                  Podcasts
      
    
                  Publications
      
    
                  Topics
      
    
                  Multimedia
      
    
                  Reuse Policy
      
    
                  Contacts
                    Contact NIJ
      
    
                  Staff Directory
      
    
                  Submit a FOIA Request
      
    
                  File a Civil Rights ComplaintFacebook
          
                      X
          
                      YouTube
  

      810 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20531
      
              Secondary Footer link menu
            Accessibility
              Plain Language
              Privacy Policy
              Legal Policies and Disclaimer
              No FEAR Act
              Freedom of Information Act
              USA.gov
              Justice.gov