Analysts are only human and they are subject to biases, emotions and motivational influences that affect decision making, but the consequences of errors can have grave effects on others
Independent analysis of latent marks and comparison prints
Fingerprint examiners differed in terms of inter and intra observer consistency
The latent mark should be done separate from the comparison print because if the experts had seen a comparison print before, they would've indentified fewer elements of the print
Identity parades
Identity parades, or line ups, are used when police have a suspect and a victim/witness to confirm the identity of the suspect
Usually a line up consists of 6 individuals, including the suspect and "foils", on the other side of a 1 way glass screen
1 weakness of line ups is that witnesses may feel under pressure to choose someone because they assume the suspect is in the line up
This can be reduced by telling them that the suspect is not necessarily in the lineup
The lineup could be double blind, whether the officer is not aware of the suspect, so they cannot unconsciously pass on clues to the witness
Identikits
Images are originally produced by police artists who create a hand likeness of the suspect
This moved onto a photofit, which builds a picture of a face by selecting eyes, noses, mouths, etc. from a bank of photographic images
More recently, 'facial compositions' have been introduced