In times of budgetary hardships we all look for ways to stretch the almighty dollar.  When faced with losing an experienced examiner and having to hire or train someone new, there are some hard questions that you should be asking:

1. What are the chances of hiring an IAI Certified Footwear Examiner (CFWE)?

Currently there are only 105 CFWEs worldwide:  93 in the US, (78 in public Crime Labs and 15 in private practice) and 12 in other countries.

• 21 States do not have any CFWE’s (0)
• 5 States only have 1 CFWE (5 public)
• 13 States have 2 CFWE’s (26 total - 21 public / 5 private)
• 12 States have more than 2 CFWE’s (62 total - 53 public / 9 private)

2. Does your caseload justify the costs associated with training someone to competency and ultimately certification?

Currently many labs are experiencing minimal footwear submissions.  This is usually driven by crime scene personnel not knowing how to collect the evidence or because it takes too long to get an answer.

Regardless of your personnel situation, or your budgetary condition, we can help.

Is your agency under a hiring freeze or in need of experienced full time or part time help? RS&A can be the short term or long term solutions that you need.

• All cases are worked by an IAI Certified Footwear Examiner (CFWE)
• All cases are technically and administratively reviewed by a CFWE
• All conclusions are verified by a CFWE
• All reports will be written by a CFWE
• All case documentation and work product will be provided in the deliverables
• With RS&A, you get a team of CFWEs not an individual

Is your agency short the necessary personnel to conduct technical / verification reviews or maybe one of your examiners is on extended leave and your agency is in need of temporary assistance with technical reviews?.

• All Technical / Verification Reviews are completed by IAI Certified Footwear Examiners (CFWE)
• All Technical Reviews are completed based on your agency’s procedures

RS&A is the only private forensic laboratory offering footwear examination that is accreditited to ISO/IEC 17025 standards.

As you can see above, RS&A has the accredited facilities, the framework and the personnel to handle all of your footwear examination needs.

Jon Byrd, MSFS, CLPE, CFWE @ 1-866-832-6772