There remains a significant research deficit concerning the spatial distribution of RACs on outsoles, of which existing published work cannot clarify. In response to this fundamental need for study, the aim of this project is to perform a detailed assessment of RAC distributions as a function of outsole contact area and tread design, using the largest currently available database of 72,306 acquired features collected from 1,300 outsoles.

The goal of this project is to calibrate the conclusions made by examiners in the forensic pattern disciplines and determine how expanded scales might be used by examiners. These expanded scales add precision to the determination made by examiners, but also may be misinterpreted by detectives, prosecutors, or the Court. In addition, definitive conclusions such as ‘Identification’ have been interpreted by many members of the public to mean ‘to the exclusion of all others’, and many authors have suggested alternative language in the form of strength-of-evidence statements such as ‘Strong Support for Common Source’. The need to calibrate the language used for forensic conclusions was noted both by a subcommittee of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) and the National Research Council of the National Academies.

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