CLPEX Chat Board

http://www.policeone.com/csi-forensics/ ... own-hands/

Mr. Reutzel is one of only 135 people in the world certified as a fingerprint examiner by the International Association for Identification, ...

Are there really only 135 CLPEs worldwide?

Well, while it might be literally true, or at least be a number reflecting the fact that a minority of examiners have been IAI certified, it misses a couple of points. One is that there are other formal "certifications" and qualification procedures within organizations. And the IAI, while having the term "International" in the name, is predominately a U.S. organization. Another is that it implies that certification equals performance and qualification as an expert. Of course we know certification is no assurance of performance and need only look to some well-known cases for evidence. That's in no way a stain on certification. That's true in every field. There are any number of other fields in which expert conclusions are valid and valuable without the practitioner holding a formal certification. Qualification to offer testimony is established by several factors or which certification may be one. Since we work primarily within the criminal justice system, at least in the U.S., qualification as an expert is a judgment of the court. (Except, of course, in some instances where statutes specify minimum qualifications.) A very large number of examiners who do not hold any formal certification are quite competent. Further, like every other field, there are significant differences in experience, personal rigor, and native perceptual and analytical ability.

What I see as the problem in latent print examination and some other forensic disciplines is the systematic lack of adversarial expertise. As an example, few cases in which psychological expertise is offered will go forward without adversarial opinion. Few latent print cases go forward with the benefit of critical adversarial examination. I suppose this grows out of the historical attitude that fingerprint identifications are always cut and dried and that all fingerprint experts will conclude similarly. As we have seen and continue to see on a daily basis here, this is simply not true. The fact that in almost every case of error, unbiased examiners will ultimately agree does not do anything but point up the fact that, from a cold start with no other information, experts may reach mutually exclusive conclusions that require that adversarial input to settle, even if it settles to a an argument between identification and inability to conclude.

No one runs screaming in circles when experts in many other fields disagree. I think the latent print discipline, however, feels that disagreement threatens to invalidate the discipline as a whole. Better get off that horse. Ultimately, it will be this idea that there can be no disagreement that will do the real damage. Yes, many or most conclusions are so clear that they are either beyond rational dispute or at least are easily defended. But there are also many conclusions that can be rationally disputed. That is not to say that the adversary will carry the day, but the challenge is valid, given the limited knowledge of absolutes at our disposal. And, if the adversary can carry the day, perhaps that's as it should be.

Certification is a good and worthy thing. But it applies to the concluder and implies nothing about a specific conclusion. It can as well used to bolster an erroneous conclusion as it can to support a valid result.

I understand that being a CLPE is not an assurance of performance, etc etc but still - only 135! I thought it has held at around 800 + or - for a long time. Is there REALLY only 135 and if so, that has got to be a really bad reflection of the times or some other bad omen. It still seems an awfully low number when I consider how many Certified LPE's I know. Someone from the IAI Latent Print Certification Board - can you confirm the "official" number of CLPE's there are?

Although it's a couple of years old, there's a list on Ed German's site.

Those employed by government agencies:
http://onin.com/clpe/clpe_by_name_29jun2006.pdf

Those that are non-government employed:
http://onin.com/clpe/clpe_consul_by_name_29jun2006.pdf

There are 50 per page with a little less than 14 pages of gov't employees and a little less than 2 pages of non-gov't employees. So that's about 15 full pages times 50, which is about 750 as of June 2006.

Thanks Steve, that seems much more realistic and in line with the numbers that I was thinking.

I've just been pointed in the direction of IDentification News, which gives stats for the certification programme.

IDentification News Vol. 38 No. 3. 2008 June/July
Current number of Certified Latent Print Examiner....837