A Review of NIJ and NIST 

Collaborative Research & 

Development Efforts

Gerry LaPorte

Director

Office of Investigative & Forensic Sciences

National Institute of Justice
NIJ: Office of Investigative & Forensic Sciences

• Lead federal agency for forensic science research and 

development as well as the administration of programs to 

improve laboratory efficiency, reduce backlogs, and provide 

technical assistance.

• NIJ administers two critical forensic science research and 

development solicitations.
Over $265 million in Forensic Science R&D

https://www.nij.gov/funding/awards/pages/awardslist.aspx?tags=Forensic%20Research%20and%20Develo

pment
Post 2009 NAS Report: Forensic Science R&D 

0

10

20

30

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

$ (Millions)

NIJ Forensic Science R&D Funding 2009 – 2018

Fiscal Year
Strengthening the Forensic Sciences

• NIJ and NIST have forged a critical research 

and development collaboration with the 

objective of strengthening the forensic 

sciences.

• Since 2009, NIJ has provided over $13 million 

in funding to NIST to support forensic science 

projects.
Examples of Competitively Awarded 

Projects to NIST

Title Award Number (IAA) PI Year 

Applied

Amount

Establishing a National Firearms and Toolmark Statistical Background 

Population for Calculation of Error Rates

2016-DNR-6257 Alan Zheng FY 2018 $550,615

Quantitative Measures for Footwear Impression Comparisons DJO-NIJ-17-R0-0202 Martin Herman FY 2017 $598,315

A Metrology Foundation for 3D Ballistics Imaging 2016-DNR-6257 Michael Stocker FY 2016 $534,500

Firearm Toolmark Population Statistics for Objective Identification and 

Error Rate Estimation

2016-DNR-6257 Alan Zheng FY 2016 $367,863

Reference Ballistic Toolmark Database for Research and Development of 

Identification Systems and Confidence Limits

2013-R2R-4843 Alan Zheng FY 2013 $534,093
NIST Ballistics Toolmark Research Database 

(NBTRD)

https://tsapps.nist.gov/NRBTD/

Open-access research database of bullet and cartridge case 

tool mark data 

Developed to:

• foster the development and validation of measurement methods, 

algorithms, metrics, and quantitative confidence limits

• improve the scientific knowledge base on the similarity of marks

• ease the transition to 3D surface topography data
NIST Ballistics Toolmark Research Database 

(NBTRD)

https://tsapps.nist.gov/NRBTD/

• Initiated by Interagency 

Agreement (IAA 2013-R2R4843; PI Alan Zheng)

• Competitively reviewed

and awarded by phased 

funding. 

• Competitively renewed in 

2016 and 2018

• Key central figure in recent 

3D firearms imaging 

implementation w/ Cadre 

Forensics, FBI Lab & others
A Metrology Foundation for 3D Ballistics Imaging

Competitively reviewed and 

awarded via IAA (2016-DNR-6257; 

PI Michael Stocker)

Tasks include:

1. Develop protocols for 

calibration and process control

2. Design reference standards

3. Fabricate prototypes

4. Test and validate

5. Demonstrate implementation in 

commercial systems

https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/forensic-topography-and-surface-metrology
Forensic Topography and Surface Metrology

• The congruent matching cells (CMC) method is used for firearm 

identification

• Error rates are estimated by modeling the results with theoretical 

distributions

• Models for one set of cartridge cases were successfully applied to a larger 

set

• After further study it should be possible to scale the method to real 

casework

Song, J. , et al. (2018), Estimating error rates for firearm evidence identifications in forensic science, FSI, 284: 15-32. 

doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.12.013
NIST Applied Genetics Group 

(2016-DNR-6150)

• Efforts to assess Next Generation 

Sequencing (NGS) technologies for 

forensic DNA analysis

– Evaluation of commercially 

available and beta version 

assays and software for NGS of 

forensic samples

– Characterization of noise and 

artifacts in NGS workflows

– Development of NGS 

nomenclature framework

• Creation of STR sequence 

records for upload to NCBI

• Development of user 

interface tools hosted by 

NIST
Evidence Management: Best Practices for 

Handling, Preservation, Retention & Tracking

• State of the Industry Report

– Summary of survey of property and evidence (P&E) 

units.

– Case studies of P&E rooms that have implanted new 

tracking technologies.

– Summary of evidence retention legislation.

– Summary of P&E room policies.

– Recommendations and implementation strategy.

• Evidence Management Symposium

• Digital Evidence Preservation and Retention 

Recommendations Report
Human Factors Series in Forensic 

Sciences • To convene a series of expert panels to 

examine human factors in forensic analyses 

and develop practice to reduce the likelihood 

of error. 

• Project Objectives: 

– Conduct a scientific assessment of the 

effects of human factors on forensic 

analyses.

– Review current practices.

– Evaluate new/emerging methodologies, 

technologies, and standards.

• Upcoming Projects

– Human factors in handwriting analysis 

(near completion) 

– Human factors in DNA mixture 

interpretation

– Human factors in firearms examinations 
Thank you!

Gerry LaPorte

gerald.laporte@usdoj.gov