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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Welcome to 2025.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for the honor of serving as your President for the year 2025. I sincerely appreciate the trust you have placed in me to lead this esteemed Association in the upcoming year. Throughout my six-year tenure as Secretary, I have had the privilege of getting to know each of you, and it has truly been a gratifying experience.

As we move forward, I aspire to ensure a successful year characterized by interesting training meetings, and I anticipate that our annual training conference will provide valuable insights and knowledge that will benefit our forensic communities.

Once again, thank you for your trust and confidence in my ability to serve as your President.

Yours Respectfully,

Denell Payne

EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCES

2025 SCAFO CONFERENCE – REGISTER

CSDIAI | PACIFIC GROVE, CA CAC | FOLSOM, CA

SCAFO – REGISTER HERE IAI – LEARN MORE

2025 SCAFO CONFERENCE – REGISTER

IAI | ORLANDO, FL

THIS WEEK ON FORENSIC ARTICLES

05.05.2025 | Understanding ‘error’ in the forensic science: A primer by K. A. Martire et al.

“There are different perspectives on what constitutes an error, therefore Error is subjective. There are different ways to compute or estimate the same error, therefore Error is multidimensional. All complex systems involve error, therefore Error is unavoidable. Some approaches to error management are more effective than others, therefore Error is cultural. Performance can be improved by attending to error, therefore Error is educational. Successful communication of error is challenging, therefore Error is misunderstood. Error management goes beyond the boundaries of any individual discipline, therefore Error is transdisciplinary.”

See full presentation here

PREVIOUSLY ON FORENSIC ARTICLES

EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCES

REGISTER HERE

EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCES

2025 SCAFO CONFERENCE – REGISTER

CSDIAI | PACIFIC GROVE, CA CAC | FOLSOM, CA

2025 SCAFO CONFERENCE – REGISTER IAI | ORLANDO, FL

THIS WEEK ON FORENSIC ARTICLES

2025 SCAFO CONFERENCE – REGISTER

IAI | ORLANDO, FL

04.21.2025 | Inconclusive decisions and error rates in forensic science by H. Swofford et al.

“…computing error rates raises the question of how to label inconclusive decisions. This has led to the various viewpoints… and some controversy because inconclusive decisions are not necessarily correct or incorrect. A “correct” decision is one that accurately represents the true source-origin state of items being compared. An “incorrect” decision is one that falsely represents the true source-origin state, resulting in an error (i.e., falsely asserting that two impressions originated from the same source or falsely asserting that two impressions originated from different sources). An inconclusive decision, on the other hand, is an outcome of the examination for which an assertion about the source-origin state of the items being compared was not explicitly made. Thus, an inconclusive decision is neither a correct nor erroneous representation of the true source-origin state.”

See full presentation here

PREVIOUSLY ON FORENSIC ARTICLES

LEARN MORE

AP NEWS BBC – FORENSIC SCIENCE CSAFE LEARNING FORENSIC LIBRARY FORENSIC RESOURCES – OIDS FORENSIC TECHNOLOGY FSI FSI-SYNERGY JFI – ABSTRACTS JFS NIJ NOBLIS STUDIES ONIN OSAC PHYS ORG RSA – LP ACADEMY SCIENCE ADVANCES SCIENCE DAILY

Credit: Standards for Examining Friction Ridge Impressions and Resulting Conclusions (Latent/Tenprint), 2011

THIS WEEK ON FORENSIC ARTICLES

05.05.2025 | Understanding ‘error’ in the forensic science: A primer by K. A Martire et al.

“There are different perspectives on what constitutes an error, therefore Error is subjective. There are different ways to compute or estimate the same error, therefore Error is multidimensional. All complex systems involve error, therefore Error is unavoidable. Some approaches to error management are more effective than others, therefore Error is cultural. Performance can be improved by attending to error, therefore Error is educational. Successful communication of error is challenging, therefore Error is misunderstood. Error management goes beyond the boundaries of any individual discipline, therefore Error is transdisciplinary.”

See full presentation here

PREVIOUSLY ON FORENSIC ARTICLES

AP NEWS BBC – FORENSIC SCIENCE CSAFE FORENSIC LIB FORENSIC – OIDS FORENSIC TECH FSI FSI-SYNERGY JFI – ABSTRACTS JFS NIJ NOBLIS STUDIES ONIN OSAC PHYS ORG RSA – ACADEMY SCIENCE ADV SCIENCE DAILY

Credit: Standards for Examining Friction Ridge Impressions and Resulting Conclusions (Latent/Tenprint), 2011

Bi-monthly Training Meetings

Mark Your Calendars

Be sure to check the website for updates and important information. Please note, the dates below are subject to change pending on venue availability.

2025 Training Dates

– FEBRUARY 1ST
– APRIL 12TH
– JUNE 7TH
– AUGUST 2ND
– OCTOBER 1ST – 3RD (Annual Conference)
– DECEMBER 6TH

The recently concluded 33rd annual conference in Hotel Paseo, Palm Desert, CA was a success, thanks to the cooperation of every single board member, a team that ensures excellence in ways I admire. I am also thankful for the participation of our speakers, sponsors and vendors.

To the entire membership in attendance, I hope you all had a fantastic time, learnt a thing or two, created good memories and connected with colleagues. For those who could not attend this year, know that you were missed.

Lastly, I know how important keeping SCAFO a well-respected organization is and I couldn’t be prouder to serve a body that honours that. I encourage us to keep it up for as long as time avails!

Warmest wishes,

Josie Mejia, 2024 SCAFO President