This workshop provides a summary of the Houston Forensic Science Center’s blind quality control program, focusing on blind quality control and blind verification in the Firearms section. The presenters will share their experiences- successes and failures- to best inform other laboratories that are interested in starting similar programs. Participants will have the opportunity to process map their case workflow, identify challenges that might arise when implementing blind verifications or blind testing, and discuss options for making the program viable for different laboratories.
Blind Testing and Blind Verification in Firearms
Conference/Workshop:
Association for Firearms and Toolmarks (AFTE)
Association for Firearms and Toolmarks (AFTE)
Published: 2023
Primary Author: Maddisen Neuman
Secondary Authors: Aimee Grimaldi, Callan Hundl and Donna Eudaley
Type: Presentation Slides
Related Resources
Advancing the Understanding of 3D Imaging for Firearms Identification
Houston Forensic Science Center, in collaboration with CSAFE, has been awarded an NIJ grant to conduct a study focused on comparability of images acquired by 3D instruments manufactured by different…
Algorithmic matching of striated tool marks
Automatic matching algorithms for assessing the similarity between striation marks have been investigated for bullet lands and some tool marks, such as screwdrivers. We are interested in the investigation of…
A reproducible pipeline for extracting representative signals from wire cuts
We propose a reproducible pipeline for extracting representative signals from 2D topographic scans of the tips of cut wires. The process fully addresses many potential problems in the quality of…
An algorithm for forensic toolmark comparisons
Forensic toolmark analysis traditionally relies on subjective human judgment, leading to inconsistencies and lack of transparency. The multitude of variables, including angles and directions of mark generation, further complicates comparisons.…