UnNumbered Latent Print Examiner Black Box Study 2022

Latent Print Examiner Black Box Study 2022

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Latent Print Examiner Black Box 2022 (LatentBB22)

Eligibility questions, Background Questionnaire, and Post-Test Questionnaire

Ed note: The eligibility questions are asked during registration: if disqualified they do not get to the survey.
Grayed text indicates process flow and is not shown to participants.

Are you a latent print examiner who has conducted independent casework (latent print examination, technical review, or verification) within the last 2 years?
[if 1.a or 1.b] Has the independent casework (latent print examination, technical review, or verification) that you have conducted within the last 2 years been as an employee or contractor for a U.S. federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial agency? (if more than one applies, select the most recent)

What percentage of time have you spent over the last two years doing latent comparisons? (including technical review and verifications)
Type of latent training received
Have you been certified and/or qualified as a latent print examiner? (Check all that apply)
Have you taken a proficiency test?
How many times have you testified in court as a latent fingerprint expert? (including depositions and administrative hearings)?
Of the latent-to-exemplar casework you have performed over the last two years (including latent print examination, technical review, or verification), what proportion of the conclusions were based on a single exemplar print (e.g., based on one rolled exemplar without reference to the plain exemplar or additional sets of exemplar fingerprints)?
Of the latent-to-exemplar casework you have performed over the last two years (including latent print examination, technical review, or verification), what proportion do you perform on computer screens, as opposed to looking at physical evidence/paper cards?
Are you aware of ever having made an erroneous identification/individualization (after training)? (check all that apply)
Are you aware of ever having made an erroneous exclusion (after training)? (check all that apply)

Has your agency received accreditation in latent prints? (If multiple employers, respond for the agency you have worked for most recently)
Indicate all types of agencies or organizations for whom you have conducted latent print examination casework over the course of your career (select all that apply)

Does your agency use likelihood ratios or other probability measures in reporting conclusions?
[if 13.a or 13.c] What conclusions do you currently use to report your comparison findings in casework? (If you use a variation of these, select "Other.”)
[if 14.g] Which of the following conclusions do you currently use in casework? (select all that apply)
If in analysis you determine that a latent is not suitable for identification but could potentially be used for exclusion, are you permitted to compare it to exemplars? (Given your agency’s standard operating procedures)
Do the value/suitability decisions you make during analysis use 2 or 3 categories (given your agency’s standard operating procedures)?
If the latent and exemplar are both of value, include a large potentially corresponding area, no other latent or exemplars images are available, and you already have all processing information related to the latent, are you permitted to make an inconclusive determination? (Given your agency’s standard operating procedures)

How much of your latent print casework over the two last years has involved AFIS? (conducting searches and comparing candidates)
[if 19 != 19.a] How often do you search NGI (the FBI Next Generation Identification System)?
[if 19 != 19.a] How often do you search a state AFIS? (or multistate regional AFIS)
[if 19 != 19.a] How often do you search a local AFIS?
[if 19 != 19.a and 19 != 19.e] Do you have a different value threshold for AFIS searches than for non-AFIS casework, such as “AFIS quality” or “of value for AFIS”?
[if 19 != 19.a] Do you have a minimum number of minutiae required in a latent in order to conduct an AFIS search?
[if 24.b or 24.c] What is the minimum number of minutiae required in a latent in order to conduct an AFIS search?
[if 19 != 19.a] When you are comparing latent prints to exemplars and considering whether to make an ID conclusion, is your decision process affected based on whether the exemplar was the result of an AFIS search vs the result of non-AFIS investigation?

For the following questions, assume “verification” includes either blind verification or non-blind verification.

Given your agency’s standard operating procedures, how often are ID conclusions verified? (including identification, individualization, or source identification) (if not currently performing latent casework, respond for your most recent employer)
[if 27.b] Select the circumstances in which ID conclusions are verified: (check all that apply)
Given your agency’s standard operating procedures, how often are Exclusion conclusions verified? (if not currently performing latent casework, respond for your most recent employer)
[if 29.b] Select the circumstances in which exclusion conclusions are verified: (check all that apply)
Given your agency’s standard operating procedures, how often are inconclusive determinations verified? (if not currently performing latent casework, respond for your most recent employer)
[if 31.b] Select the circumstances in which inconclusive determinations are verified: (check all that apply)
Given your agency’s standard operating procedures, how often are no value determinations verified? (if not currently performing latent casework, respond for your most recent employer)
[if 33.b] Select the circumstances in which no value determinations are verified: (check all that apply)
Given your agency’s standard operating procedures, when does your agency conduct BLIND verification? (In blind verification, the reviewer is not aware of the initial examiner’s conclusion.)

Overall, was the quality of the exemplars in this study representative of the exemplars you see in casework?

Overall, was the quality of the latents in this study representative of the latents you see in casework?
Overall, were the processing methods and substrates of the latents in this study consistent with the latents you see in casework?
Overall, how did the difficulty of the comparisons you performed in this study correspond to the comparisons you’ve performed in operational casework?
Please provide any additional comments you have about the study overall. (Please limit your responses to 75 words or less.)

File Type	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Author	R. Austin Hicklin (Noblis)
File Modified	0000-00-00
File Created	2023-09-02