Practical Approach to Forensic Question Document Analysis

Training Objectives

Forensic science is a vital instrument for the detection or investigation of crime and the administration of justice, providing crucial information about the evidence found at the crime scene, it is especially important that the training and education of forensic scientists provide a solid experimental background and a broad base in questioned document examination.

The validity of those results depends on the knowledge, skills, and experience of the forensic expert working to obtain them. A forensic professional must be capable of integrating knowledge and skills in the examination, analysis, interpretation, reporting, and testimonial support of evidence.

A forensic document examination is intimately linked to the legal system as a forensic professional. They include fraudulently obtained, illegally issued, forged, and counterfeit documents Although the ability to detect and disseminate intelligence about fraudulent documents is vital to forensic professionals, there are still experts who lack this capacity.

Moreover, there is a lack of awareness among relevant investigators of the benefits that forensic document examinations may assist in robust forensic investigation. Forensic document examiners compare handwriting, typewriting, printing processes, inks, and other document characteristics that may or may not include document security features.

During the course of forensic examinations of identity and security documents, various characteristics are analyzed, compared and evaluated, mainly:  Substrate characteristics (paper and polymer), Ink characteristics, Printing processes and features, primary and advanced security features (overt and covert), Physical characteristics of the document (assembly and production characteristics), Personalization techniques/bio-data.

These characteristics are inspected and compared against reference standards to distinguish similarities and differences. Different techniques may be required to examine or analyze the different characteristics. Many characteristics can be examined with basic as well as more sophisticated equipment.