Misidentifications of alphanumeric characters in serial number restorations
| Autor: | J. R Waszczuk, L. Peacock, S. Chadwick, P. Maynard, J. Raymond, C. Roux |
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| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences. :1-21 |
| ISSN: | 1834-562X 0045-0618 |
| Popis: | Chemical etching has long been established as a reliable means of recovering defaced characters such as serial numbers. Although successful restorations can present clearly defined characters, a preliminary assessment of proficiency test results shows varied participant interpretations of samples marked with the same characters. Thus, a study was completed to determine if specific alphanumeric characters are more likely to be misidentified, comprising a practical exercise and analysis of 16 compiled proficiency test results. The practical exercise involved 64 steel plates stamped with six randomized characters that were removed and chemically restored. Participants individually assessed the plates and provided their interpretations. A total of 39 participants of various backgrounds and experience in serial number restorations were used in this study. After comparing participant interpretations with the ground truth, characters more prone to be misidentified were determined. The proficiency test results showed that the most frequently misidentified characters were the letters B and N, among a limited set. Whilst the practical assessment found a notable increase in misidentifications for the letters G, Q and S. Interestingly, none of these characters were used in the proficiency tests. It is hoped that the results of this study raise awareness for forensic examiners undertaking restorations. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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