Posted by Julie Welch on October 19, 1999 at 07:40:48:
In Reply to: Some Comments re: Erroneous Identification (Scottish Case) posted by Julie Welch on October 19, 1999 at 07:32:06:
From: Julie Welch
To: Ed German ed@onin.com
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 1999 3:41 PM
Subject: What happened to Unexplainable Differences?
Hello.
First, I am glad there are people like Pat Wertheim and yourself who are
willing to get involved in cases like these. There should be NO
professional courtesy in this business. Too many examiners are
protective of each other.
Second, there are many, many agencies (some fairly large) in my area,
like that one in Illinois who DO NOT follow IAI or SWGFST guidelines,
who have no certified examiners on staff, accredited labs, adequately
train their employees or provide for continuing education. I've actually
known examiners who have laughed off or actually say that they don't
believe in certification. Latent Print Identifications are shrugged off
by many agencies like it's "oh so easy," and "anyone can do it" You and
I both know that that is not true. I'm not certified and I no longer
work actively in field.
In the Illinois Identification, I looked at it and knew within about 30
seconds that that one wasn't right. I saw the Scotland ID first on the
SCAFO website and thought "Not of comparison quality" but after looking
at the enlargements on your site I think it's a "Bad Identification."
I'm glad to know that other people share my instincts.
Julie