Quality in Forensic Science Flashcards

Question

What is the definition of accreditation vs certification

Answer 1

accreditation: - full recognition by an accreditation authority to the technical and organisational competence of a conformity assessment body to carry out a specific service in accordance to the standards and technical regulations as described in the scope of accreditation certification: - the process by which a third party gives written assurance that a product, process, system or person conforms to the specified requirement

Answer 2

- founded in 1995 with Headquarters in Staines (others in Europe and around world) - the sole national accreditation body recognised by British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration

Answer 3

- an organisation aims to reduce and eventually eliminate non-conformance to specifications, standards, and customer expectations in the most cost-effective and efficient manner

Answer 4

- standard operating procedures

Answer 5

- an assessment of the performance of laboratory personnel using samples where sources are known to proficiency test administrator but unknown to examinee - to measure individual performance and provide demonstrative evidence of each examiners ability

Answer 6

- internal proficiency test - external proficiency test - ensures examiner is compared against manufacturers validated results

Answer 7

- blind proficiency test - an agency may use this to verify the quality of work without the scientists knowledge - agency may generate mock evidence and then assign it is a regular case - case examiner may never know he or she worked on blind proficiency test unless quality of work produced was below standard

Answer 8

- double blind proficiency testing - where another agency submits mock evidence as if it were a regular case to another agency - this evaluates the performance of the individuals completing the case and the agency's overall performance within respect to that case

Answer 9

- false positive - where true result is negative but shows as positive - incriminating the innocent

Answer 10

- false negative - where true result is positive but shows as negative - person would be falsely exonerated

Answer 11

- stain isn't blood - stain is blood but reagents used to conduct test are poor quality - stain is blood but something in shirt is interfering with test (inhibitor)

Answer 12

- international standard for organisations carrying out inspection activities - deemed more appropriate than ISO/IEC 17025 for crime scene examinations - it focuses on inspection bodies and police crime units

Answer 13

- examination strategy, scene examination (exhibit - discovery, collection, enhancement, comparison, interpretation)

Answer 14

- responsible for: 1 - standards that apply to national forensic intelligence databases and development of new standards 2 - identifying requirement for new/improved quality standards 3 - providing advice and guidance to ministers, CJS organisations and forensic science providers to help them demonstrate compliance with common standards 4 - ensuring good arrangements exist to provide assurance and monitoring of the standards (management of complaints/referrals about standards)

Answer 15

- 'standard for business processes' - applies to processes that create products and services and organisation supplies in order to fulfil customer quality requirements - sometimes aligned to fingerprint processes

Answer 16

- associated with operation and management of proficiency testing schemes

Answer 17

- standard for minimising risk of human DNA contamination in products used to collect, store and analyse biological material for forensic purposes - in draft as of Nov 2015, current standard in UK is PAS 377 guidelines - consumables used for DNA casework are treated with a single cycle of ethylene oxide in order to reduce/eliminate DNA contamination (toxic gas that splits of DNA helix into small fragments which are too small to deliver a DNA profile that can be loaded to national DNA database - spiked swab is placed in batch with known quantity of donor DNA and is quality tested - batch rejected if DNA is detected

Answer 18

- full overall - hairnet - mob cap - over sleeves - over boots - nitrile gloves - facemasks - eye protection

Answer 19

- all staff DNA profiles are held on a UK supplier DNA database

Answer 20

- standard which applies to clean rooms

Answer 21

- calibration testing - inspection bodies and police crime units - management and business processes - proficiency testing - consumables - clean rooms

Answer 22

- Hilda Owen a 71 year old was murdered in her home in Skegby in 2007 - she had been attached, suffered grave injuries and left to die - appellant, her next door neighbour found her body and reported to police in march - he was at first treated as a witness but he was subsequently arrested and released on bail - court quashed his conviction - reliability of FP evidence used in 2008 was challenged due to fresh evidence from new experts - court also criticised quality of reports provided (no notes made during examinations or reasons for conclusions) - points of comparison were not identified contemporaneously on a separate chart - court of appeal concluded by calling for enforcement of common quality standards in a robust and accountable system

Answer 23

- training and quality of FP experts - quality standards - presentation of FP evidence in court

Answer 24

- originally no standards in proving a match - 12 ridge characteristics would prove a match beyond doubt - UK adopted higher threshold of certainty in 1953 using national standard of 16 similar characteristics in proving a match - 1983: agreed that a fingerprint identification was certain with less than 16 points of similarity - study commissioned by ACPO and the Home Office, concluded that there was no scientific, logical or statistical basis for the retention of a numerical standard - 2001: change to a non-numerical standard - from 2001: accepted practice was for print to be identified by fingerprint officer (may/not be a fingerprint expert and then checked by two qualified fingerprint experts

Answer 25

- continual professional development - any learning activity which promotes development of knowledge and skills applicable to ones role - it provides direct route into competent practice because the necessity of keeping up-to-date with information, skills development and implication of forensic case law is a prerequisite to maintaining a best practice in many roles - it is recognised that maintenance of skills and knowledge of the time and place plays an important part in ensuring that standards of practice current competence in the role is promoted - chartered society of forensic science considers CPD to be a basic expectation of all its professional members

Answer 26

- bombing in Madrid - Brandon Mayfield was arrested by FBI saying his print was a match to print found on abandoned set of detonator caps inside plastic bag with single incomplete FP - Mayfield was released when they found an Algerian national who's print matched better - FALSE POSITIVE (TYPE 1) - contextual/CONFIRMATION information caused bias

Answer 27

- condemned and put to death for suspected arson murder of his three young daughters in 1991 - house fire caused fire in home killing his three daughters - accused of maliciously instigating the fire flaws - original fire investigation was heavily criticized for relying on outdated and unscientific methods, including the use of arson indicators that have since been debunked. - investigators and experts involved in the case lacked proper training in fire investigation and relied on subjective interpretations rather than empirical evidence - allegations were made that evidence that could have potentially exonerated Willingham was not disclosed during the trial - Willingham's defence was deemed to be inadequate, failing to challenge the flawed forensic evidence effectively. - better training for investigators in handling and examination of evidence - institution of better practices for collecting and preserving evidence - commitment towards transparent investigations and leveraging technological advances in forensic science - improved oversight and independent assessment of investigations are also suggested to combat investigative bias