This online registration page for an "On-Demand" course on "The Basics of Error Rates in Pattern Evidence" presents a course description, the recommended audience, course accreditation, and the background of the presenter.
This course is sponsored by the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Forensic Technology Center of Excellence. The course, which lasts approximately 50 minutes, was originally presented at the 2015 Impression, Pattern and Trace Evidence Symposium (IPTES). It was presented as part of the symposium's section on Expert Testimony, Forensic Sciences, Forensic Technology, Impression Pattern Evidence, Law Enforcement Training, and Trace Evidence. The course description notes that one of the Daubert prongs of admissibility for scientific expert testimony is the known or potential error rate of the technique that produced the evidence being presented. Thus, examiners are often asked about the discipline error rate in the course of their testimony. After completing this On-Demand course, participants will understand the most commonly calculated error rates and will be able to calculate them. The course is recommended for Forensic practitioners. A certificate of completion is provided to those who complete the course. The course presenter is Heidi Eldridge, who has approximately 11 years of forensic science experience in the domains of latent prints, crime-scene analysis and reconstruction, and controlled substances. Most of her experience has been in latent prints. She is a Certified Latent Print Examiner with the IAI, a member of the Friction Ridge Subcommittee of the OSAC, and sits on the JFI editorial board. She is currently working on her PhD in Forensic Science with Professor Christophe Champod at the University of Lausanne.