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Forensic science plays a critical role in the United States criminal legal system. For decades, many featurebased fields of forensic science, such as firearm and toolmark identification, developed outside the scientific community’s purview. The results of these studies are widely relied on by judges nationwide. However, this reliance is misplaced. Black-box studies to date suffer from inappropriate sampling methods and high rates of missingness. Current black-box studies ignore both problems in arriving at the error rate estimates presented to courts. We explore the impact of each type of limitation using available data from blackbox studies and court materials. We show that black-box studies rely on unrepresentative samples of examiners. Using a case study of a popular ballistics study, we find evidence that these nonrepresentative samples may commit fewer errors than the wider population from which they came. We also find evidence that the missingness in black-box studies is non-ignorable. Using data from a recent latent print study, we show that ignoring this missingness likely results in systematic underestimates of error rates. Finally, we offer concrete steps to overcome these limitations. Supplementary materials for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a case study approach to explore the facilitators and impediments to effectively using forensics ballistics imaging technology to improve police investigations in a developing country. The study site, Trinidad and Tobago, a nation located in the Caribbean basin, was experiencing a homicide epidemic during the time of this study. The homicide epidemic involved the repeated use of a limited number of firearms, conditions that are ideal for ballistics imaging technology. This nation also possessed a professionalized forensic crime lab and advanced ballistic imaging technology. The analysis reveals that the effective use of ballistics imaging was impeded by inefficient processes and backlogs at the national crime lab, time delays in identifying ballistics hits, and an inefficient system of transmitting hit reports to police investigators. In sum, organizational arrangements in the forensic crime lab and police in the focal country blunted the effectiveness of a proven forensic technology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite their wounding potential, air guns are accepted as low-profile weapons or toys, and are not considered as lethal weapons. The aims of this study are to determine the wounding potential of air guns and to increase the consciousness about the dangers of the air guns. The kinetic energy limits are mentioned in 11 different countries’ legislations are evaluated with respect to test results. Twelve Kraton RTM G1 (15%) Transparent Ballistic Candle Blocks were prepared as the artificial soft-tissue test media in three different test models. A 4.5 mm air pistol and a 5.5 mm air rifle were used in the tests, which were performed in 1 and 10 m ranges. The mean penetration depth of the air pistol shots was 25.60 mm and the air rifle penetration was 79.14 mm from the 1 m range for three test models. In the 10 m range, the mean penetration depth of air pistol shots was 25.30 mm, while 79.19 mm was recorded for the air rifle. Considering these penetration depths, shots at especially the neck, eyes and thorax regions, can cause fatal injuries. For that reason, the kinetic energy limits should be the main point of air gun restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic science can be a powerful tool in counter-terrorism, not only in post-incident prosecution, but also in pre-incident deterrence. Examples are given from experience in Israel, and the question is raised how professionals can be taught to maximize upon the capabilities of forensic science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]