Transitioning forensic service providers to evaluative reporting: the example of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Forensics Command

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ABSTRACT

Evaluative reporting (ER) is a formalized thought process that enables the evaluation of scientific findings given two competing propositions. There is growing awareness of the value of using ER to improve the communication and understanding of forensic results, contributing to a fairer justice process. Recognising this, AFP Forensics Command created a project to assist its teams to transition to ER. This paper presents some of our work and lessons learnt with the hope of providing valuable guidance to other teams or agencies wishing to embark on this journey.

KEYWORDS:

• Evaluative reporting
• interdisciplinary
• forensic science

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all our colleagues at AFP Forensics who have embarked on this endeavour to enhance the value of the traces they examine.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).