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Source: Lucy A. Davis, BHS, Chair, ASB Board of Directors
The AAFS Standards Board (ASB) is pleased to announce the publication of its first American National Standard (ANS), titled ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 007, Postmortem Impression Submission Strategy for Comprehensive Searches of Essential Automated Fingerprint Identification System Databases, First Edition, 2018.
This standard is produced through ASB’s Disaster Victim Identification Consensus Body in a collaborative consensus process accredited by American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Earlier drafts of this final document were based upon documentation originally produced by the Scientific Working Group on Disaster Victim Identification and updated by the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) Subcommittee on Disaster Victim Identification.
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to medical examiners, coroners and investigators regarding the submission of recorded postmortem impressions for comprehensive searches of essential automated fingerprint identification system databases. While a number of factors affect the successful search of a fingerprint through an automated fingerprint system, one of the most important factors is ensuring the fingerprint is searched through appropriate antemortem fingerprint databases.
ASB documents are available for download in the Published Documents portion of the ASB website.
About the ASB
The AAFS Standards Board (ASB) is an ANSI-accredited Standards Developing Organization with the purpose of providing accessible, high quality science based consensus forensic standards. The ASB is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), established in 2015 and accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 2016. The ASB is partially funded by a grant through the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
The ASB consists of Consensus Bodies (CB), which are open to all materially interested and affected individuals, companies, and organizations; a Board of Directors; and Staff.
About ANSI [1]
ANSI facilitates the development of American National Standards (ANS) by accrediting the procedures of standards developing organizations (SDOs). These groups work cooperatively to develop voluntary national consensus standards. Accreditation by ANSI signifies that the procedures used by the standards body in connection with the development of American National Standards meet the Institute’s essential requirements for openness, balance, consensus and due process.
With the approval of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) of 1995 (Public Law 104-113), federal agencies are encouraged to utilize voluntary consensus standards where feasible and to participate as appropriate in voluntary consensus standards development activities. Standards that are approved as American National Standards satisfy all of the requirements of the NTTAA.
In order to maintain ANSI accreditation, standards developers are required to consistently adhere to a set of requirements or procedures that govern the consensus development process. These requirements are set forth in a document known as the ANSI Essential Requirements: Due process requirements for American National Standards (www.ansi.org/essentialrequirements).
Due process is the key to ensuring that ANSs are developed in an environment that is equitable, accessible and responsive to the requirements of various stakeholders. The open and fair ANS process ensures that all interested and affected parties have an opportunity to participate in a standard’s development. It also serves and protects the public interest since standards developers accredited by ANSI must meet the Institute’s essential requirements and other due process safeguards.
Contact:
Teresa Ambrosius, Secretariat
tambrosius@aafs.org
(719) 453-1036