Footwear and Tire Track Examination Subcommittee - International Association for Identification

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Discipline Overview:

Footwear and Tire Track Evidence is often overlooked and underutilized at crime scenes yet can be vitally important in helping determine the movements of individuals entering, traversing and exiting scenes. These forensic examinations can provide information on the number of potential perpetrators, direction of travel, and type of footwear/tires which made the impression, thus helping investigators to include and exclude relevant shoes and vehicles.

Examinations can be performed on even partial footwear and tire track impressions to form conclusions regarding the level of association (or disassociation) of exemplars. By working with properly photographed, lifted and casted impressions, scientists can examine both class and randomly acquired characteristics to form a wide range of conclusions regarding the level of association of a particular shoe or tire. Conversely (pun intended), footwear impressions can be encoded and searched through a variety of databases to determine potential make and model of shoes allowing for investigative leads.

There are multiple footwear databases available to agencies for purchase to help determine potential make and model of the shoe which made a footwear impression. The Footwear Reference Collection Group (FRCG) has kept the Foster & Freeman FPX Footwear Database alive by working with agencies across the country who add encoded outsoles to the database and share their new entries with other collaborators. For more information on how you can be a part of this group, please reach out to a member of the subcommittee for more information.

Footwear and Tire Track Examination Subcommittee Chair

Emily Rice, NH, USA

Committee Members

Return to Forensic Disciplines

Qualifications:

Footwear and tire track examiners are often also trained in another forensic discipline. Examiners may be latent print, firearms, or trace examiners, depending on the agency. It is recommended that examiners possess a bachelor's degree in a natural science from an accredited college or university.

A comprehensive training program under a qualified examiner should be completed prior to performing independent case work. Each lab will vary on their training program but, the ANSI/ASB minimum Qualifications and Training requirements to become a Footwear/Tire Forensic Scientist can be found here:

ANSI/ASB Standard 095

Continuing education is essential to keeping up to date with the discipline and ongoing research in the field.

Certification:

Certification Page

Standards:

Resources:

For more information about Footwear and Tire Track Examinations:

Texts:

Forensic Footwear Evidence, Bodziak, William J., 2017
Tire Tread and Tire Track Evidence: Recovery and Forensic Examination, Bodziak, William J., 2008
Footwear Evidence, Abbott, John; Germann, A. C.
Footwear Identification, Cassidy, Michael
Tire Imprint Evidence, McDonald, Peter
Forensic Tire Impression Identification, Nause, Lawren
Footwear the Missed Evidence, 2nd Ed., Hilderbrand, Dwane S.
Footwear Impression Evidence: Detection, Recovery and Examination, Bodziak,William J.
Tire Tracks and Tread Marks, Given, Bruce W.; Nehrich, Richard B.; Shields,James C
The Complete Handbook of Athletic Footwear, Cheskin, Melvyn P.
Forensic Comparative Science: Qualitative Quantitative Source Determination of
Unique Impressions, Images, and Objects, Vanderkolk, John
Tread Design Guide

Websites:

Journals that publish FW/TT articles: