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 or exclude shoes and vehicles.
Examinations can be performed on even partial footwear and tire track impressions to form conclusions regarding 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.

Footwear and Tire Track Examination Subcommittee Chair
Emily Rice, NH, USA
Committee MembersReturn to Forensic Disciplines
Qualifications:
Generally, footwear and tire track examiners are also trained in another forensic discipline. Often examiners are also latent print examiners but may also be 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. Some examples of recommendations for training programs can be found here:
- ANSI/ASB Standard 095
- IAI Recommended Course of Study for Footwear and Tire Track Examiners
- SWGTREAD Guide for Minimum Qualifications and Training for a Forensics Footwear and/or Tire Tread Examiner).
Continuing education is essential to keeping up to date with the discipline and ongoing research in the field.
Certification:
Resources:
For more information about Footwear and Tire Track Examinations
Websites:
- Canadian Identification Society www.cis-sci.ca
- ASCLD/LAB, ASCLD www.ascld.org/
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
Journals that publish FW/TT articles:
- Forensic Science International
- Journal of Forensic Identification (IAI)
- Journal of Forensic Sciences (AAFS)
- Science and Justice
Organizations relevant to this discipline:
- Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC)
- Scientific Working Group for Shoeprint and Tire Tread Evidence (SWGTREAD)
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS)
- ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
FW TT Research and Development Needs: