In order to continue further development there are various organizations in the world, which are promoting the development and scientific exchange in forensics. One of these organizations is the European Network of Forensic Science Institute – ENFSI. It has 66 members from 36 different countries. The members are spread over various technical working groups, in which experts of the field discuss the latest developments. Since 2002 a membership fee is required in order to join. In 2004 an annual fee was introduced, in addition to the switch from personal to institutional memberships.
Activities of the ENFSI include the organization of events, conferences, the promotion of collaboration of researchers at various projects and tests, as well as the publication of best-practice methods.
One of the 17 sub-groups of ENFSI is the fingerprint working group, which is particularly interesting for us. The group is divided into two areas of fingerprint forensics: detection and identification. The former focuses on the discovery and methods for detecting fingerprints. The identification group handles the issue of identification and comparison methods for fingerprints.
The objective of the subgroup is to create awareness of the research and the subject of fingerprints. In this context, a particular focus is placed on quality management in crime scene investigation. Especially in the field of fingerprints, careful and accurate work is required, and so visualization and comparison methodology are disseminated. Conferences and meetings are held within the subgroups. Also forensic researchers can build a network, which supports joint studies and projects. At the same time the exchange of experience stimulates new projects and shows the current state of research.
