Analysis, Comparison and Evaluation of Latent Prints: The Results of the 2021 Collaborative Exercise of the ENFSI Fingerprint Working Group.

In 2021, the Fingerprint Working Group (FIN-WG) of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) conducted a collaborative exercise (CE) on the analysis, comparison, and evaluation (ACE) of friction ridge marks. The Fingerprint Database Laboratory of the Israeli Police, in coordination with the FIN-WG Proficiency Test/ Collaborative Exercise advisory group, managed the selection of the marks. The characteristics of the CE are summarized, followed by an overview of the evaluation of the performances of the participating laboratories, including lessons learned. The test proved to be quite challenging, as demonstrated by the high False Negative Rate (FNR = 13.1%). A new category of error was unexpectedly discovered. Two laboratories, while correctly identifying the donor, provided an incorrect side-by-side comparison, with non-corresponding minutiae and the identification of a different friction ridge skin area. As a result, two, false positive rates were calculated, one for source (FPR-1) and one for feature set (FPR-2). FPR-1 was 1.1%, while FPR-2 was 0.7% in this exercise. Additionally, the impact of laboratory approaches to the concept of simultaneity when applied to the lack of continuity of the ridge f low was shown to impact results. Finally, there is also a discussion of the meaning of exclusion given different laboratory approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]