Overview of Forensic Scienc

Activities at NIST

Susan 

Program Manager For Forensic 

Law Enforcement Standa
Wilmer Souder 

“... one of the nation’s bes

lk l 

east 

known crimino

l

o

gis

The Washington 

least 

known crimino

l

o

gis

The Washington 
Color Test Reagents/Kits for Preliminary 

Identification of Drugs of Abuse

Standard Reference Collections of

Forensic Science Materials

Sampling Simulator for Qualification Testing

of B th Al h l M t D i f Breath Alco

h

ol Measurement Devices

Molecular Biophysics of Olfaction

Statistical Evaluation of

Blood Alcohol Measurements

Full-Scale Room Burn Pattern Study

Evaluation of Analytical Methodologies for

Non-intrusive Drug Testing

T E id Trace E

vidence A l i f H H i Analysis

of Human H

air b y 

On-line Supercritical Fluid Extraction -- Gas 

Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

Flammable and Combustible Liquid 

Spill/Burn Patterns
The Innocence Project The Innocence Project

The National Academy of Scien

The profession is lacking –• Standards• Validated methods• S i i l b d i ifi h Stat

ist

ica

l

base

d sc

ientific researc

h

• Conformance and compliance testing 
Forensic Sciences

Computer Forensics Computer Forensics

CFReDS; CFTTMobile MediaNSRL
Building Fire

Research Lab
Forensic Science

Fire Investigatio

T h i l S t f l ti

Fire Investigatio

 Technical Support for evaluation

of crime scenes

 Building structure response to 

i t ti l fi

 Technical Support for evaluation

of crime scenes

 Building structure response to 

i t ti l fi intentional fires

 Fire Reconstruction Modeling 

software program

intentional fires

 Fire Reconstruction Modeling 

software program

ARSO

 World Trade Center

October 2005 (NIST NCSTAR 1)

 The Station Nightclub Fire

 World Trade Center

October 2005 (NIST NCSTAR 1)

 The Station Nightclub Fire ARSO

 t

June 2005 (NIST NCSTAR 2: Vol. I)

or not...
IMS – Trace Drug Detection

Forensic Science

 Analysis to characterize efficiency of the IMS 

method for detecting contraband drugs

g

 Development of methods to characterize and 

standardize swipe-based and portal-based collectiefficiencies of drug particles 

 Calibration procedures and NIST-Traceable SRM

for IMS detection

SEC. 7. METHAMPHETAMINE DETECTION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENTPROGRAM

PUBLIC LAW 110–143—DEC. 21, 2007

.

The Director of National Institute of Standards and Technology, in consultation with the Administrator, shall support a research program to develop—

(1) new methamphetamine detection technologies, with emphasis on field test kits and site detection; and(2) appropriate standard reference materials and validation procedures for methamphetamine detection testing.
Unobtrusive Testing

Detecting Drugs of Abuse

Incorporation of Drugs into Hair

Use Enantiomeric Comp y osition to study

the incorporation of drugs into human hair

Evaluation of Mistral

Security Field Test Kits

A iti it d ifi it f Assess sensitivity and specificity of

aerosol field test kits for narcotics

detection and identification, marketed

by Mistral Security, Inc.

Assess sensitivity and specificity of

aerosol field test kits for narcotics

detection and identification, marketed

by Mistral Security, Inc.
BIOMETRICS

The ANSI/NIST-ITL Standard and For
Latent Fingerprint Technolog

(in ITL)

Usability • Design tools and hum

computer interfaces thefficient, effective, and 

• New interaction paradig

away from mouse-and-cltechnologies that mimic 

examiners work with pholoops, and pins

• Elimination of examine

through standardizatioprocesses and proced

• Promote validity, reliab

traceability
October 2002

The Hunt for

the D C the D.C.

Snipers

Is a

National Ballistic

Imaging Database

needed?

Imaging Database

needed?

Is it practical?

Standards Are Missing
Forensic Science

NIST SRNIST SR

2460/246

Standard B

NIST SR

2460/246

Standard BStandard B

and Casi
Standard Reference Material for Standard Reference Material for

Additives in Smokeless PowderStandard Reference Material forAdditives in Smokeless Powder

• Samples with known proportions of:

propellant (nitroglycerine)

bili (di h l i &

• Samples with known proportions of:

propellant (nitroglycerine)

stabilizers (di h l i & (di

p

henylamine 

&

ethyl centralite)

U d t lib t i t

stabilizers (di

p

henylamine 

&

ethyl centralite)

• U d t lib t i t Use

d

to calibra

te equipmen

t

and protocols

• Ensure accurate and reliable analyses•

Use

d

to calibra

te equipmen

t

and protocols

• Ensure accurate and reliable analyses Ensure accurate accurate and reliable reliable analyses analyses

Magnified view of gunpowder r
DNA

PROBLEM:Getting analysis results 

SOLUTION:•Multichannel format•SNPs•Microfluidic DNA Analysis 
SRM for PCR-DNA 

Low-Level DNA R

Mixture Interpre

Variant Allele Seq

Expansion of U.S. C

Evaluation of New 

Evaluating Alternativ

Markers

Kinship analy

Standard Reference Standard Reference 

Updates

Rapid DNA ProcesRapid DNA Proces

Potential Biometrics 
At NIST: Detecting graves by headspace collectio

In the past, investigators used ground penetrating bulky instrument that slowly moves over the surfemitting radar pulses as a means to find burial loc
Standard Reference Materials (SR

Standard Standard Reference Reference Materials Materials (SR

Arson: 2285Bl d Al h l 1821 1828b Bloo

d Alco

h

ol: 1821, 1828b

Drugs of Abuse: 1508a, 2381Bloo

d Alco

h

ol: 1821, 1828b

Drugs of Abuse: 1508a, 2381DNA: 2390, 2391b, 2392, 2392-1Explosive Stimulants: 2905Glass: 610-17, SEM: 1690, 1691, 1961, 1963a, 1965GC/MS: 1543UV: 935aIR: 1921b
Standard Reference Database

Standard Reference Database

Biotechnology

Short Tandem Re

peat DNA Internet Database

Human Mitochondrial Protein Database

Chemistry

Hydrocarbon Spectral DatabaseNIST/EPA/NIH Mass Spectral Library

Biometrics

Mated Fingerprint Card PairsFingerprint Minutiae from Latent Matching Tenprint ImagesPlain and rolled Images from Paired Fingerprint Cards

Fire Investigation

Fire Modeling ProgramsNIST FASTData Fire Test Database
Expert Working Group

• Bi l i l E id P t

Bi

o

log

ica

l

E

vidence 

Preservat

• AFIS Interoperability• Human Factors on Latent Prin

Ali na

lys

i

s
After reading the

the sentence you are the sentence, you arenow aware that thethe human brainoften does notinform you that thethe word the word 'the' hasbeen repeated twiceever

y time.
FORENSIC SC
Thank You ~

Q ti ? uestions?

National Institute of Standards and Tec

(301) 975-2757