The AVFA Certification

On November 22, 2005, the Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006 became law. Under the terms of the statute, Congress authorized “the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study on forensic science, as described in the Senate report."

In 2009, the National Academies Press published Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward (aka, the NAS Report). The report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

On page 208 of the NAS Report, the authors address the issue of certification.

"The certification of individuals complements the accreditation of laboratories for a total quality assurance program. In other realms of science and technology, professionals, including nurses, physicians, professional engineers, and some laboratorians, typically must be certified before they can practice. The same should be true for forensic scientists who practice and testify. Although the accreditation process primarily addresses the management system, technical methods, and quality of the work of a laboratory (which includes the education and training of staff), certification is a process specifically designed to ensure the competency of the individual examiner."

The NAS Report goes on to note, "In addition to improving quality, certification programs can enhance the credibility of certificate holders."

As I noted last week, there are three certifications available in the discipline of digital / multimedia analysis. I would like to correct that here first, leaving the original post unedited.

Of the domains of what is traditionally considered Image Analysis / Video Analysis, there is no specific component within the LEVA / IAI that addresses the testing of a practitioner's competency in authentication. Photogrammetry is sometimes covered at their conventions, but there again, it's not a specified component of the certification programs.

I can say this with certainty about the LEVA certification. One may stand for certification upon successfully completing the LEVA Levels courses, the Courtroom Prep class, and some electives. For the exam, the analyst chooses a case that they've worked and presents it to the certification board. Thus, what is covered in that "exam" is unique to the analyst - varying from analyst to analyst. As a certificate program, it seems quite out of alignment with ASTM E2659 – 09, Standard Practice for Certificate Programs.

As to the domains under examination, there is no list available from either group. The IAI has a reading list that consists of a few older texts as well as some SWGDE guidelines. It's assumed that the practitioner will gain proficiency in these areas via vendor training, attending workshops at conferences, and other training opportunities.

What's missing: audio.

In Tx vs Oliver, the LEVA CFVA's testimony notes the importance of the audio track of the body-worn video recording, and how it helped in the analysts work. But, the CFVA exam does not specifically test for audio competency. I'm certainly not knocking the analyst. Just noting that the CFVA exam doesn't specifically test for competency in audio analysis and the analyst noted how important the audio track was in guiding his work and his conclusions.

Yes, forensic multimedia analysis includes everything in the multimedia container - audio, video, images, metadata, error, and junk. The CFVA - video analyst - seems to just cover the video portion of that list. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it's important to know what it does and doesn't cover.

Let's say you have an "image" from an iPhone - a Live Photo. Live Photos contain sound (link). Does your chosen software platform recognize that a Live Photo is essentially a video file? Does your chosen software platform have the ability to play the audio? What about "enhancing" the audio? Do you know how to enhance audio?

Here's where the AVFA certification has a leg up. Whilst the "competency requirements" aren't all that well written, and the format of the test (as noted on their site) does not match the language in the comps document, the analyst will definitely have an idea as to what will be on the test.

Yes, the AVFA exam includes audio. It's the first A in the acronym. The AVFA exam includes Photogrammetry and Authentication. There doesn't appear to be anything related to comparisons or content analysis, but those domains can sometimes be blended into the others, or generalized to "analysis."

Back to the NAS Report, "In essence, ‘certification’ usually means that a particular individual has completed a defined course of education, training, and experience, and has passed an examination prepared by peers which demonstrates that the individual has obtained at least the minimum level of competence required to practice the specific discipline." It seems that the AVFA meets that definition.

I'm going to take the test soon. I'll let you know how that goes as well as comment on the whole process - from sign-up to notification of results and beyond.