The application of infrared chemical imaging to the detection and enhancement of latent fingerprints: method optimization and further findings

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) chemical imaging allows the collection of fingerprint images from backgrounds that have traditionally posed problems for conventional fingerprint detection methods. In this work, the suitability of this technique for the imaging of fingerprints on a wider range of difficult surfaces (including polymer banknotes, various types of paper, and aluminum drink cans) has been tested. For each new surface, a systematic methodology was employed to optimize settings such as spectral resolution, number of scans, and pixel aggregation in order to reduce collection time and file-size without compromising spatial resolution and the quality of the final fingerprint image. The imaging of cyanoacrylate-fumed fingerprints on polymer banknotes has been improved, with shorter collection times for larger image areas. One-month-old fingerprints on polymer banknotes have been successfully fumed and imaged. It was also found that FTIR chemical imaging gives high quality images of cyanoacrylate-fumed fingerprints on aluminum drink cans, regardless of the printed background. Although visible and UV light sources do not yield fingerprint images of the same quality on difficult, nonporous backgrounds, in many cases they can be used to locate a fingerprint prior to higher quality imaging by the FTIR technique. Attempts to acquire FTIR images of fingerprints on paper-based porous surfaces that had been treated with established reagents such as ninhydrin were all unsuccessful due to the swamping effect of the cellulose constituents of the paper.     

A review of recent advances in impurity profiling of illicit MDMA samples

Profiling illicit ecstasy tablets has the potential to become an invaluable tool in the crackdown on drug trafficking, but that potential has yet to be fully realized. The impurity profile of an ecstasy tablet can be used to determine the method employed to synthesize the actual controlled substance, which in most cases, is 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Tablets can then be linked to a common synthetic route, potentially to a common manufacturer, and possibly even to a common manufacturing batch, based on the impurities present. Current methods for profiling MDMA tablets typically involve extracting the organic impurities for analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The potential of profiling the trace metals present in tablets has begun to be investigated while more robust statistical and chemometric procedures are being applied to compare and link tablets. This article reviews the recent advances in MDMA impurity profiling from 2002 up to the end of 2006.     

Profiling the mobile customer – Privacy concerns when behavioural advertisers target mobile phones – Part I

Mobile customers are being tracked and profiled by behavioural advertisers to be able to send them personalized advertising. This process involves data mining consumer databases containing personally-identifying or anonymous data and it raises a host of important privacy concerns. This article, the first in a two part series on consumer information privacy issues on Profiling the Mobile Customer, addresses the questions: “What is profiling in the context of behavioural advertising?” and “How will consumer profiling impact the privacy of mobile customers?” The article examines the EU and U.S. regulatory frameworks for protecting privacy and personal data in regards to profiling by behavioural advertisers that targets mobile customers. It identifies potential harms to privacy and personal data related to profiling for behavioural advertising. It evaluates the extent to which the existing regulatory frameworks in the EU and the U.S. provide an adequate level of privacy protection and identifies key privacy gaps that the behavioural advertising industry and regulators will need to address to adequately protect mobile consumers from profiling by marketers. The upcoming second article in this series will discuss whether industry self-regulation or privacy-enhancing technologies will be adequate to address these privacy gaps and makes suggestions for principles to guide this process.¹     

Racial profiling and searches: Did the politics of racial profiling change police behavior?*

Research Summary Scholarly research has documented repeatedly that minority citizens are disproportionately stopped, searched, and arrested relative to their baseline populations. In recent years, policymakers have brought increased attention to this issue as law‐enforcement agencies across the United States have faced allegations of racial profiling. In the 1990s, the politics generated by accounts of racially biased policing placed heightened pressure on law‐enforcement agencies. However, to date, few studies have explored whether the increased social and political scrutiny placed on police organizations influenced or changed their general pattern of enforcement among black and white citizens. Using data in the search and citation file from the North Carolina Highway Traffic Study, this research specifically examined whether the politics generated by the media coverage of racial profiling and racial profiling legislation in North Carolina influenced the search practices of officers of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol's drug interdiction team. The findings suggest that media accounts and the passage of new legislation were particularly powerful influences, which thereby reduced racial disparity in searches. Declines in the use of consent searches and an increased probability of finding contraband also were influenced by the politics of racial profiling. Policy Implications The results of this study suggest several important policy recommendations. First, law‐enforcement agencies must monitor the policing practices of their officers because such supervision can influence officer compliance with fair and unbiased policing policies. Next, supervisors need to familiarize themselves with enforcement data to identify potential problem officers and organizational practices. By doing so, police organizations will not only increase officer accountability but also will potentially improve communication with their local communities. Such communication can empower community members to file charges against officers who violate their civil rights. Next, the media and political effects documented in this study suggest that external oversight can be particularly influential on police practices. Therefore, police agencies should consider developing a citizen complaint board, which is an external oversight board that would be responsible for investigating allegations against officers who engage in racial profiling or other racially biased enforcement practices. Such a board could assist police administrators in identifying problem officers as well as in making recommendations for corrective action. Finally, external social and political pressure must continually be placed on police forces to improve equity in police behavior. These external forces can assist in creating opportunities for police to increase the overall quality and efficacy of policing.     

Results of the 2009 Paternity Testing Workshop of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics

Here we present the results of the 2009 Paternity Testing Workshop of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. The exercise included paternity testing of blood samples from a mother, a child and two alleged fathers. The laboratories were encouraged to answer questions concerning their laboratory routines and a paper challenge was distributed in order to compare statistical calculations. A total of 62 laboratories participated. The laboratories used a total of 49 autosomal STRs and PCR-investigated VNTRs, 19 Y-chromosomal STRs, 8 X-chromosomal STRs, 7 VNTR systems investigated with RFLP, 49 autosomal SNPs and 11 mtDNA SNPs. The rate of typing and reporting errors was 0.1%.     

Simulating transfer and persistence of a chemical marker powder for Lycopodium clavatum spores

In this research a chemical marker powder, based on Lycopodium clavatum spores, was studied to determine its transfer and persistence on a T-shirt. Such chemical marker powders are used to provide evidence that a person has handled a covertly marked object, such as a drug package. The powder was found to transfer readily between a marked item and the person handling it. The powder was found to persist on a T-shirt for up to 13 h; however, there was only a very small amount of powder remaining at this time. The rate of loss of the L. clavatum spores was found to follow a decay curve. The largest decrease in spores from the T-shirt was seen in the first 2 h after the marked item had been handled.     

A novel FTA™ elute card collection method that improves direct DNA amplification from bloodstained concrete

Concrete is a common construction material found in residential and commercial buildings, bridges and parking lots that is a composite matrix containing aggregate held together with cement. The porous nature of concrete can make the collection and genotyping of biological fluids, such as blood, challenging. Forensic evidence can become embedded within the matrix, potentially reducing the amount of DNA available for analysis. In forensic science, “direct” amplification refers to a genotyping method that amplifies a DNA profile directly from a sample without DNA extraction, saving time and money. We investigated a novel application of Whatman? FTA? Elute cards in their ability to directly amplify PowerPlex® Fusion and Y23 profiles from minute amounts of blood that had been deposited on different concrete structures. In comparison to traditional collection methods, directly profiling blood stained construction materials using FTA? Elute cards increased the percentage loci amplified and significantly improved both allele peak height and peak height ratio while reducing allelic drop-out. FTA? Elute cards can provide a reliable, inexpensive and superior alternative to traditional methods.     

Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Analyses of Ephedra Plant and Ephedrine Samples and Their Application For Methamphetamine Profiling

In this study, stable isotope ratio analysis was used to track the precursor information of methamphetamine. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of 30 nature ephedra plants, 12 synthetic ephedrine/pseudoephedrine (ephedrine), 14 natural ephedrine, and 987 seized methamphetamine samples were measured and compared. Due to different weather and earth conditions, the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of ephedra plants grown in the east and the west of Inner Mongolia showed great difference. The δ¹⁵N values of ephedra plants were consistent with related ephedrine extracted from them. Moreover, the criteria to infer the synthetic origin of ephedrine were set up after the analysis of natural and synthetic ephedrine samples. Finally, the precursor origins of 949 seized methamphetamine samples synthesized by Emde and Nagai method were tentatively inferred. Influenced by different preprecursors, the δ¹³C values of seized methamphetamine samples that synthesized from P2P also showed great difference, and this result is consistent with the reported data.     

Bioinformatics Approach to Assess the Biogeographical Patterns of Soil Communities: The Utility for Soil Provenance,

Soil DNA profiling has potential as a forensic tool to establish a link between soil collected at a crime scene and soil recovered from a suspect. However, a quantitative measure is needed to investigate the spatial/temporal variability across multiple scales prior to their application in forensic science. In this study, soil DNA profiles across Miami‐Dade, FL, were generated using length heterogeneity PCR to target four taxa. The objectives of this study were to (i) assess the biogeographical patterns of soils to determine whether soil biota is spatially correlated with geographic location and (ii) evaluate five machine learning algorithms for their predictive ability to recognize biotic patterns which could accurately classify soils at different spatial scales regardless of seasonal collection. Results demonstrate that soil communities have unique patterns and are spatially autocorrelated. Bioinformatic algorithms could accurately classify soils across all scales with Random Forest significantly outperforming all other algorithms regardless of spatial level.