Assessing the Reliability of Clothing-Based Forensic Identification
A 2009 report by the National Academy of Science was highly critical of many forensic practices. This report concluded that significant changes and advances were required to ensure the reliability across the forensic sciences.
We examine the reliability of one such forensic technique used for identification based on purportedly distinct patterns on the seams of denim pants. Although first proposed more than twenty years ago, no thorough analysis of reliability or reproducibility of this forensic technique has previously been reported. We performed a detailed analysis of this forensic technique to determine its reliability and efficacy.
(This presentation is based on joint work with postdoctoral scholar Sophie Nightingale.)
Hany Farid is a professor in the School of Information and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His research focuses on digital forensics, image analysis, and human perception. He received his undergraduate degree in computer science and applied mathematics from the University of Rochester in 1989 and his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. He is the recipient of a Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is also the chief technology officer and co-founder of Fourandsix Technologies and a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project.
