Message from
the SWGIT Chair
April 1, 2002
Dear Colleague:
The Scientific
Working Group on Imaging Technologies (SWGIT) was created to provide
leadership to the law enforcement community by developing guidelines
for good practices in the use of imaging technologies within the
criminal justice system. In this edition of Forensic Science
Communications, we present four documents relating to those
guidelines for your review and use. Another document, Definitions
and Guidelines for the Use of Imaging Technologies in the Criminal
Justice System, was published in the July 2001 issue of Forensic
Science Communications.
The four documents
included in this issue provide guidelines relating to the use of
imaging systems in field applications, guidance in the use of digital
cameras to obtain latent impressions, and recommendations regarding
training and management issues. All four were released in July 2001
as draft documents on the International Association for Identification
(IAI) Internet site. Copies of these drafts were also distributed
to several hundred laboratories and law enforcement agencies throughout
the United States and abroad. The documents were revised and finalized
based on feedback received prior to December 2001.
These SWGIT
documents represent the work of more than thirty photographers,
scientists, instructors, and managers from 24 federal, state, and
local law enforcement agencies, as well as from the academic and
research communities. The documents represent the consensus opinion
of this membership and should not be construed as the official policy
of any one of the represented agencies.
A goal of the
SWGIT is to engage the entire law enforcement imaging community
in developing these guidelines. Please review the documents carefully
and give us your feedback. (Click
to go to instructions.)
Thank you for
your consideration.
Sincerely,
Richard W. Vorder
Bruegge
Chair, SWGIT
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