National Commission 

on Forensic Science

Status Update

Nelson A. Santos, MPA

Department of Justice

Deputy Assistant Administrator - Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Laboratory

Vice-Chair, National Commission on Forensic Science

John M. Butler, PhD

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NIST Fellow & Special Assistant to the Director for Forensic Science

Vice-Chair, National Commission on Forensic Science

American Academy of Forensic Sciences

Orlando, FL

February 19, 2015 U.S. Department of Commerce
Presentation Outline

• Commission Establishment and Activities (John)

– DOJ and NIST roles and leadership

– Timeline of activities

– Subcommittees established

– Brief review of each meeting

• Commission Work Products (Nelson)

– Public comment opportunities

– Draft documents reviewed

– Final work products approved
NCFS and OSAC: 

U.S. Efforts to Strengthen Forensic Science

• National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 

report issued in Feb 2009

• White House Subcommittee on 

Forensic Science (SoFS) operated 

from July 2009 to Dec 2012

DOJ/NIST Partnership (announced Feb 2013)

1. NCFS (National Commission on Forensic Science)

• First meeting held February 3-4, 2014 in Washington DC

2. OSAC (Organization of Scientific Area Committees)

• 542 members named; first public meetings held in Feb 2015

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/file

s/microsites/ostp/NSTC/strengthening_the_

forensic_sciences_may_-_2014.pdf

79 pages

Released May 2, 2014
Recent Roles of NIST in Federal 

Government Forensic Science Efforts

1. Co-lead the National Commission on Forensic Science

• Federal Advisory Committee to the Department of Justice (DOJ): NIST co-chair 

(Willie May) and NIST vice-chair (John Butler)

• Focused on policy issues to improve forensic science

• 31 Commissioners and 8 ex-officio members; four meetings held in 2014

2. Organization of Scientific Area Committees 

• NIST-led community-based effort: Mark Stolorow and John Paul Jones

• Focused on development of discipline-specific standards of practice

• 542 subject matter experts selected to contribute to development of standards

3. Continuing forensic science research efforts at NIST

• Previous support from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has now 

transitioned to direct Congressional funding to NIST

• Susan Ballou is NIST program director for forensic science research

• NIST Forensic Science Center of Excellence ($20M over 5 years) –

announcement of winner to be made in March 2015

Conducted under Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DOJ
Article Describing the Commission and OSAC

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/upload/Butler-ISHI-Proceedings2014.pdf 

18 pages of information
National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS)

Willie E. May

Acting 

Director of NIST

NIST Co-Chair

Sally Q. Yates

Acting 

Deputy Attorney General

DOJ Co-Chair

www.justice.gov/ncfs

Nelson A. Santos

Vice-Chair (DOJ)

John M. Butler

Vice-Chair (NIST)

NCFS Leadership

Next meeting (6th): April 30-May 1, 2015

Last meeting (5th): January 29-30, 2015

Policy-focused

31 voting and 8 ex-officio members
Timeline for Commission Activities

• Announcement at AAFS 2013 meeting (February 21, 2013)

• Commission charter filed (April 23, 2013)

• Commission membership named (January 10, 2014)

Meetings held so far (first-term of Commission):

• First meeting (February 3-4, 2014)

• Second meeting (May 12-13, 2014)

• Third meeting (August 26-27, 2014)

• Fourth meeting (October 28-29, 2014)

• Fifth meeting (January 29-30, 2015)

Future meetings planned:

• Sixth meeting (April 30-May 1, 2015)

• Seventh meeting (August 10-11, 2015)

• Eighth meeting (December 7-8, 2015)

• Ninth meeting (March 21-22, 2016)

• Tenth meeting (June 20-21, 2016)

Federal Advisory 

Committees exist on a 

2-year renewal cycle

The existing 

Commission charter 

expires April 23, 2015

DOJ plans to renew 

charter (and include 

digital evidence)
Current NCFS Subcommittees

NCFS Subcommittee # Commissioners # Non-Commissioners

1. Accreditation & 

Proficiency Testing 7 15

2. Human Factors & 

Cognitive Bias 5 13+1

3. Interim Solutions 12 2

4. Medico-legal Death 

Investigation 6 9

5. Reporting & Testimony 13 8

6. Scientific Inquiry 

& Research 12 3

7. Training on Science & 

Law 8 6

http://www.justice.gov/ncfs/subcommittees

where much of the Commission work occurs...

Subcommittee products are discussed and voted on by the full 

Commission prior to be recommended to the Attorney General

57 non-Commissioners 

contributing to the process

Most Commissioners are on 

multiple subcommittees
February 3-4, 2014 was the first meeting of the

National Commission on Forensic Science

37 Commissioners + DOJ/NIST Leadership Team 

(with ~100 public attendees)
NCFS Meeting 1 Topics

February 3-4, 2014

• Introductions and review of everyone’s expectations

• Welcoming remarks:

– Speakers: James Cole, Patrick Gallagher, John Holdren

• Background presentations

– Reflections on National Research Council 2009 report (Judge Harry Edwards)

– Census of publicly funded crime laboratories (Matt DuRose)

– Accreditation & certification (Patricia Manzolillo)

– Proficiency testing (Dean Gialamas)

– Research (Jeff Salyards)

– Documentary standards (Gerry LaPorte)

• Announcement of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (Mark Stolorow)

• Discussion and prioritization of Commission agenda

– Six initial subcommittees were formed 

No webcast or video archive are available for the first meeting
Webcast of Second NCFS Meeting

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/national-commission-on-forensic-science-webcast.cfm
NCFS Meeting 2 Topics

May 12-13, 2014

• Panel on Cognitive Bias and Human Factors

– Speakers: Deborah Boehm-Davis, John Collins, Michael 

Risinger, David Kaye

• Panel on Ethics and Forensic Science

– Speakers: Jamie Upshaw Downs, Rob Lesnevich

• OSAC update

– Speakers: Mark Stolorow, Willie May

• Subcommittee Reports and Priority Discussions 

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/national-commission-on-forensic-science-webcast.cfm
NCFS Meeting 3 Topics

August 26-27, 2014

• Amended Bylaws Reviewed

– Vote passed on a directive to survey police forensic units

• Panel on Cognitive Bias and Human Factors

– Speakers: Itiel Dror, Bill Thompson 

– New subcommittee on Human Factors was formed

• Panel on Latent Print Automated Fingerprint Identification 

System (AFIS) Interoperability

– Speakers: Melissa Gische, Austin Hicklin, Lauren Reed, David Russell 

• UK Regulator Andrew Rennison shared lessons learned from the 

United Kingdom

• Panel on Role of Accreditation in Forensic Science

– Speakers: Beth Mishalanie, Ross Randlett, Roger Klein

• Subcommittee Reports 

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/national-commission-on-forensic-science-webcast-3.cfm
NCFS Meeting 4 Topics

October 28-29, 2014

• Subcommittee Reports & Work Product Discussion

– Six draft work products discussed

• OSAC and NIST Center of Excellence update

– Speaker: Mark Stolorow

• Bureau of Justice Statistics Law Enforcement Agency Forensic Unit 

Survey Proposal (follow-up to previous meeting’s directive)

– Speakers: Erica Smith, Matthew DuRose

• Reviews of recently released reports 

– Achieving Interoperability for Latent Fingerprint Identification in the 

United States (OSTP)

• Speakers: Tania Simoncelli, Laura Gerhardt 

– Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification (NRC)

• Speakers: Thomas Albright, Judge Jed Rakoff

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/national-commission-on-forensic-science-webcast-4.cfm
NCFS Meeting 5 Topics

January 29-30, 2015

• Subcommittee Reports & Work Product Discussion

– Four final work products discussed

• Update on Bureau of Justice Statistics law enforcement agency forensic 

unit survey plans (Speaker: Erica Smith)

• Panel on documentary standards

– Speakers: Gordon Gillerman, Warren Merkel, Karen Reczek

• Panel on judicial training

– Speakers: Katheryn Yetter, Judge Jeremy Fogel, Judge Mark Atkinson

• Presentation on accreditation and certification within the MDI community

– Speaker: Steven Clark

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/national-commission-on-forensic-science-webcast-5.cfm
NCFS Meeting Materials Available

http://www.justice.gov/ncfs/meeting-materials.html

Meeting Summary

23 page pdf document

Speaker Slides (pdf files)

Listing of 22 references provided to Commissioners

Webcast

(>9 hours of 

archived video)
Commission Work Products

• The Commission is a Department of Justice 

Federal Advisory Committee and therefore only 

has direct authority to make recommendations 

to the Attorney General (who can direct efforts in 

three DOJ laboratories: FBI, DEA, and ATF)

• Work Product Types: (1) Views, (2) Directives, or 

(3) Policies

Voting is conducted electronically with a

two-thirds majority required to pass
Website Postings of Draft Work Products

• A NCFS work products page: 

http://www.justice.gov/ncfs/work-products

• Individuals wishing to submit written public comment 

regarding draft work products should do so by going to 

www.regulations.gov and entering a meeting-specific Docket No.

• Subcommittee work products are made available to 

Commissioners and to the general public at least 15 days 

before the next meeting and additional public comments can 

be provided 15 days after a meeting (30 days total)

• A GovDelivery system enables those registered to received 

email notification when new work products are added 
Commission Draft Work Products at Meeting 4 

http://www.justice.gov/ncfs/work-products

1. Universal Accreditation (policy)

2. Scientific Literature (views)

3. Pretrial Discovery (policies & directives)

4. Expert Testimony (policies & directives)

5. MDI accreditation & certification (policy)

6. Terminology ( Forensic Science defined) 

(views)

Public comments are reviewed and input from Commissioners 

sought during NCFS meeting deliberations
Comments Received on Initial NCFS 

Subcommittee Work Products

Document Length # Comments Received

Universal Accreditation (policy) 4 pages 21

Scientific Literature (views) 4 pages 9

Pretrial Discovery (policies & directives) 28 pages 37

Expert Testimony (policies & directives) 27 pages 40

MDI accreditation & certification (policy) 7 pages 16

Terminology (views) 2 pages 15

138 comments

Public comments provided to www.Regulations.gov (docket # DOJ-LA-2014-0006)

Subcommittees decided on format, length, etc.

41 additional comments received (Nov 12 to 21)
Final Documents Discussed and Voted on at 

Meeting 5 (January 30, 2015)

Through 30 day public review (and revisions made):

1. Universal Accreditation (policy)

2. Accreditation of Medical Examiner and Coroner 

Offices (policy)

3. Certification of Medicolegal Death Investigators 

(directive)

4. Scientific Literature in Support of Forensic 

Science and Practice (views)

65% in favor; went back to 

subcommittee for minor revisions

100% in favor; approved

93% in favor; approved

100% in favor; approved

Awaiting notice of Attorney General acceptance of the approved documents
New Draft Document Reviewed at 

Meeting 5 (January 30, 2015)

• Inconsistent Terminology (views document)

– From Reporting & Testimony Subcommittee

• “It is the view of the NCFS that the forensic science 

community should endeavor to make terminology more 

consistent within a particular discipline and across 

disciplines... This document summarizes problems that 

result from the inconsistent use of terminology...”

• Only 1 public comment was received from a 

Commissioner in the initial 15 days

• This document to be discussed further and potentially 

voted on at the next meeting
Other Work Products Being Developed 

• AFIS Interoperability

• Code of Ethics

• Proficiency Testing

• Probabilistic Statements

• Evidence Retention

• Judicial Training
Summary

• Five Commission meetings have been held to-date and 

meeting materials are available on the NCFS website

• Seven subcommittees are currently operating and 

include input from 57 non-Commissioners

• Progress is being made: one document has AG 

approval; three documents have been approved by the 

commission and five documents are under deliberation 

by commission. 

• The Commission will be re-chartered and will include 

digital evidence 
National Commission on 

Forensic Science (NCFS) 

www.justice.gov/ncfs

202-307-8885 Nelson.A.Santos@usdoj.gov

301-975-4049 John.Butler@nist.gov

U.S. Department of Commerce

Thank you for your attention!