Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

OSAC	Research	Needs Assessment Form

Title	of	research	need:

Keywords:

Submitting subcommittee(s): Date	Approved:

(If	SAC	review	identifies	additional	subcommittees,	add	them	to	the	box	above.)

Background	information:

1.	 Description	of	research	need:

2.	 Key	bibliographic	references	relating	to	this	research	need:

3a.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	current	laboratory	capabilities?

(1)	Using	large	AFIS	databases,	conduct	a	study	that	measures	the	likelihood	of	finding	close	nonmatches	based	upon	the	location	within	friction	ridge	impressions and	specificity	of	these	features	

and	their	arrangements (unit	relationships).	 (2)	Assess	the	ability	of	the	examiner	to	discriminate	

these	close	non-matches with	true	mates. (3)	Creation	of	a	sanitized	close	non-match	dataset	for	

research	and	training.

It	is	believed	that	there	is	no	structured	research	that	directly	addresses	this	need.

For	a	comprehensive	and	informative	bibliography	related	to	friction	ridge	examination	please	see	

Appendix	“A”:			The	2011	SWGFAST	response	to	the	Research,	Development,	Testing	&	Evaluation	

Inter-Agency	Working	Group	of	the	National	Science	and	Technology	Council,	Committee	on	

Science,	Subcommittee	on	Forensic	Science.		

This	type	of	research	will	provide	examiners	with	empirical	evidence	of	the	risk	associated	with	

searching	low	minutiae	count	images	against	large	AFIS	databases.		It	will	also	provide	data	

supporting	potential	thresholds of	the	minimum	amount	of	features	that	should	be	used	in	AFIS	

searches as	well	as	the	ACE-V	process	(sufficiency).

Close	Non-Match	Assessment

Close	Non-Match,	AFIS,	Likelihood,	Sufficiency,	Suitability

Friction	Ridge
Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

3b.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	understanding	of	the	scientific	basis	for	the	

subcommittee(s)?

3c.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	services	to	the	criminal	justice	system?

4.		Status assessment	(I,	II,	III,	or	IV):		

This	research	need	has	been	identified	by	one	or	more	subcommittees	of	OSAC	and	is	being	provided	as	an	

informational	resource	to	the	community.

Major gap	

in	current	

knowledge

Minor gap	

in	current	

knowledge

No	or	limited

current	research	

is	being	

conducted

I III

Existing current	

research	is	being	

conducted

II IV

Research	in	this	area	will	produce	metrics	and		datasets	valuable	for	sufficiency	determination,	

examiner	cognition	study,	and	statistical	modeling	research.		

Research	will	provide	data	to	reduce	AFIS	erroneous	decisions.			The	Brandon	Mayfield	error	

exposed	the	danger	of	close	non-matches	found	in	AFIS.		To	date	there	is	little	scientific	data	that	

quantifies	the	overall	risk	of	close	non-matches	in	AFIS	databases.		It	is	difficult	to	create	standards	

regarding	sufficiency	for	examination	or	AFIS	search	searching without	this	type	of	research.

I
Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

// Approval	date:

(Approval	is	by	majority	vote	of	subcommittee.		Once	approved,	forward	to	SAC.)

1.		Does	the	SAC	agree	with	the	research	need?				Yes					 ⃝	⃝		

2.		Does	the	SAC	agree	with	the	status assessment?				Yes								⃝	

If	no,	what	is	the	status assessment	of	the	SAC:

Approval	date:

(Approval	is	by	majority	vote	of	SAC.		Once	approved,	forward	to	NIST	for	posting.)

Subcommittee 01/29/2016

SA

C

17-Mar-2016