This course is designed to introduce the trainee to the experience of using a virtual comparison microscope (VCM) for performing comparisons. The purpose is to assess and refine an identification criterion that has been developed by a trained examiner using light comparison microscopy (LCM). The key to that identification criterion is having a sufficient understanding of what toolmarks from known same and known different sources look like. With the advent of three-dimensional data collection, the data sets for the LCM and VCM do have differences. As a result, we must assess and refine our identification criteria for the different ways in which that data might be presented.
This course will involve required reading and watching lectures focused on the development of the VCM used in this course. The data from various specimens has already been collected and the trainee will be provided with software, licensed for a specific period, to perform the necessary training-related practical exercises. The exercises will include a variety of formats to include known same source (KSS) comparisons, known different source (KDS) comparisons, and unknown comparisons in which it is expected the trainee will analyze and compare data to reach conclusions consistent with the AFTE Range of Conclusions. Samples will include bullets and cartridge cases fired from similar makes and models of firearms as well as using consecutively manufactured barrels, firing pins, and breechfaces.
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