Pattern Evidence Training

The purpose of these funds will be used to prepare Pattern Evidence practitioners to meet the requirements of the certification bodies within their chosen discipline. These programs will be designed to achieve three objectives that include first, training opportunities for new analysts; second, continuing professional development (CPD) resources for experienced analysts; and third, develop model programs that can be sustained beyond the award period. To achieve the three goals will require NFSTC and its Partner design training resources that will accommodate multiple delivery methods from traditional face-to-face delivery to a variety of multimedia capabilities. A total of over 17,000 Hours of training in the areas of the Pattern Evidence discipline will become an established result from this project. In the 2002 Census of Publicly Funded Crime Labs it was estimated that 61% of laboratories performed fingerprint analysis. At the year's end it was estimated that approximately 86,000 cases would be backlogged nationwide which averages out to 140/lab. With well trained examiners retiring in large numbers, this training would bring case ready examiners into agencies limiting an increase in the backlog of cases. ca/ncf