Fingerprint Expert
An expert witness is defined as someone who has adequate training, scientific knowledge and specialist understanding as well as structured practise and experience allowing him or her to give professional expert witness testimony in court.
For a fingerprint expert "adequate training" and "structured practice and experience" mean successful completion of the qualification training programme and demonstration of skill to the required standard in the examination of fingerprints through work place activity.
This role can be distinguished from that of a Scene Examiner. A Scene Examiner is professionally trained and routinely deployed to locate, examine and interpret a range of crime scenes and, where appropriate, to recover physical evidence, including fingerprint impressions from them.
Responsibilities of a fingerprint expert include:
- Recognition and classification of fingerprint patterns to allow search and comparison of fingerprint impressions.
- Analysis and examination of finger, palm and foot print impressions retrieved from a crime scene and assessing their suitability for comparison.
- Using both manual and computerised databases to account for the identity of unknown impressions retrieved from a crime scene through comparison with finger and palm impressions whose identity is known.
- To communicate results to external agencies and to prepare and present evidence of identification when required.
Accreditation as fingerprint expert
Accreditation as a fingerprint expert requires successful completion of the Forensic Services - Fingerprints Common Training Programme which incorporates the National Fingerprint Board training programme as assessed externally by Centrex NTC (National Training Centre).
This programme is based on individual skill and knowledge development and the demonstration of competence to the required standards. Although not specifically time bound there is a general expectation that it will take a student at least 3 years to successfully gain expert accreditation.
On completion of the training programme, and subject to approval by Forensic Services Management, application will be made to the Scottish Executive for individual authorisation as an expert witness which will allow you to present fingerprint evidence in court.