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                            Library & Multimedia
 A study on the occurrence of glass and paint across various cities in the United States-Part I: Background presence of glass in the general population
NCJ Number
              307898
Journal

*Forensic Chemistry* Volume: 34 Dated: July 2023
Author(s)
          Andra D. Lewis;
                        Lauryn C. Alexander;
                        Oriana Ovide;
                        Olivia Duffett;
                        James Curran;
                        Patrick Buzzini;
                        Tatiana Trejos
Date Published

July 2023
Annotation
              This study assesses the occurrence of finding glass fragments by chance in the general population in the United States.
Abstract
              This research addresses the plausibility of finding glass fragments by chance in the general population in United States regions by searching the apparel of individuals assumed to be unconnected with crimes involving glass breaking. The findings confirm that it is highly unlikely to observe glass fragments on the garments of individuals from the general population, and it is even less likely to find many fragments. The plausibility of finding glass fragments by chance in the general population becomes a relevant question when assessing glass recovered from someone suspected of being involved in an illegal activity implicating glass breaking. A large-scale study was conducted in the two metropolitan areas of Houston, TX, and Pittsburgh, PA, and the two suburban areas of Huntsville, TX, and Morgantown, WV. A total of 1,883 items of clothing and footwear were searched from 410 subjects, using tape liftings for garment areas and scrapings from the footwear soles. A total of eight glass fragments were recovered, five from the Houston set and one from each of the three other locations. No more than one glass fragment was recovered on a given item. Examination of glass by refractive index and micro-x-ray fluorescence spectrometry enabled their differentiation and classification by end-use. A zeta distribution and the R package*fitPS*developed for this study were used to estimate two parameters typically used for activity level likelihood ratio formulas: the probabilities of observing a given number of groups of fragments on target garments (*P*) and a particular number of fragments within an observed group (*S*). (Published Abstract Provided)
      
  
          Additional Details
Grant Number(s)
        2019-DU-BX-0015


  
  
        
  Agencies
        NIJ-Sponsored


  
  
        
  Publication Type
        Research (Applied/Empirical)


  
  
        
  Award
        Development of a Baseline Survey of Random Presence of Glass and Paint for the Interpretation of Evidence in the U.S. Courts
    
  
  
Date Published: July 1, 2023
    
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        Paint analysis
        Glass analysis



  
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