Identifying suspects by matching hand photographs with video evidence

Johannes Rødbro Busch; Niels Lynnerup

doi:10.1007/s12024-015-9726-0

Identifying suspects by matching hand photographs with video evidence

1 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Unge under 15 rapporterer ikke sjældent at have været udsat for seksuelle relationer imod deres vilje. I nogle tilfælde kan pornografiske optagelser være en del af overgrebet. Sådant materiale kan bidrage til identificering af gerningspersonen. I dette studie undersøgtes anvendelsen af visuel sammenligning af to billeddatabaser. Den ene bestod af blindede still-billeder fra videooptagelser af bagsiden af højre hånd fra 51 mandlige forsøgspersoner. Den anden bestod af blindede fotografier i høj kvalitet af bagsiden af højre hånd på samme personer. Billederne blev kombineret (i alt 2601 mulige kombinationer) og hvert enkelt par kategoriseret som "ikke match", "muligt match" og "overvejende sandsynligt match" ud fra identifikation af flere anatomiske pejlemærker. Ved denne metode kunne billedpar fra samtlige 51 personer korrekt identificeres. I visse tilfælde var der op til 5 andre billedpar, der ikke kunne udelukkes som mulige matches. Der var ingen falsk positive "overvejende sandsynlige matches", men 50 falsk positive "mulige matches". Visuel genkendelse af fotografisk materiale bør ikke stå alene som bevismateriale, men kan være et nyttigt supplement til den samlede bevisbyrde i en retslig sammenhæng. Graden af sikkerhed er direkte korreleret til størrelsen af referencebilleddatabasen.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology
Vol/bind	11
Udgave nummer	4
Sider (fra-til)	504-508
Antal sider	5
ISSN	1547-769X
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-015-9726-0
Status	Udgivet - 1 dec. 2015

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10.1007/s12024-015-9726-0

Citationsformater

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title = "Identifying suspects by matching hand photographs with video evidence",

abstract = "Reports by minors of sexual relations against their will are not rare, and in some cases pornographic photography is a part of the abuse. Such material can be used to help identify the perpetrator. In this study we examined the efficacy of visual comparison between two databases. One consisted of blinded still images of the back of the right hand of 51 males from video recordings, the other of blinded high quality camera images of the back of the right hand from the same 51 individuals. The images were compared in pairs (2601 combinations) and a judgment was made about whether they were a highly likely, possible or unlikely match, using several anatomical features as markers for comparison. Using this method all 51 high quality images were correctly matched with the video image from the same person, though in some cases there was up to 5 other samples that could not be excluded as possible matches. In total there were no false positive “highly possible” matches, but there were 50 false positive “possible” matches. Visual comparison of the back of the hand is a valuable addition to the burden of evidence in a judicial setting, but should not be used as a standalone method to establish proof of identity. The applicability of the method is dependent on the existence of a database of images; the degree of certainty of the identification is directly correlated to the size of the database.",

author = "Busch, {Johannes R{\o}dbro} and Niels Lynnerup",

year = "2015",

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doi = "10.1007/s12024-015-9726-0",

language = "English",

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T1 - Identifying suspects by matching hand photographs with video evidence

AU - Busch, Johannes Rødbro

AU - Lynnerup, Niels

PY - 2015/12/1

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N2 - Reports by minors of sexual relations against their will are not rare, and in some cases pornographic photography is a part of the abuse. Such material can be used to help identify the perpetrator. In this study we examined the efficacy of visual comparison between two databases. One consisted of blinded still images of the back of the right hand of 51 males from video recordings, the other of blinded high quality camera images of the back of the right hand from the same 51 individuals. The images were compared in pairs (2601 combinations) and a judgment was made about whether they were a highly likely, possible or unlikely match, using several anatomical features as markers for comparison. Using this method all 51 high quality images were correctly matched with the video image from the same person, though in some cases there was up to 5 other samples that could not be excluded as possible matches. In total there were no false positive “highly possible” matches, but there were 50 false positive “possible” matches. Visual comparison of the back of the hand is a valuable addition to the burden of evidence in a judicial setting, but should not be used as a standalone method to establish proof of identity. The applicability of the method is dependent on the existence of a database of images; the degree of certainty of the identification is directly correlated to the size of the database.

AB - Reports by minors of sexual relations against their will are not rare, and in some cases pornographic photography is a part of the abuse. Such material can be used to help identify the perpetrator. In this study we examined the efficacy of visual comparison between two databases. One consisted of blinded still images of the back of the right hand of 51 males from video recordings, the other of blinded high quality camera images of the back of the right hand from the same 51 individuals. The images were compared in pairs (2601 combinations) and a judgment was made about whether they were a highly likely, possible or unlikely match, using several anatomical features as markers for comparison. Using this method all 51 high quality images were correctly matched with the video image from the same person, though in some cases there was up to 5 other samples that could not be excluded as possible matches. In total there were no false positive “highly possible” matches, but there were 50 false positive “possible” matches. Visual comparison of the back of the hand is a valuable addition to the burden of evidence in a judicial setting, but should not be used as a standalone method to establish proof of identity. The applicability of the method is dependent on the existence of a database of images; the degree of certainty of the identification is directly correlated to the size of the database.

U2 - 10.1007/s12024-015-9726-0

DO - 10.1007/s12024-015-9726-0

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26499953

SN - 1547-769X

VL - 11

SP - 504

EP - 508

JO - Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology

JF - Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology

IS - 4

ER -

Identifying suspects by matching hand photographs with video evidence

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