19th of October

900-1000  Registration (Lecture-hall 11 b)

1000-1015 Conference Opening (Lecture-hall 11 b)

1000-1005 Welcome speech of the rector of SSU, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor Chumachenko Aleksey N.

1005-1010 Welcome speech of the Head of the Forensic Center of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Saratov Region Evseev Vladimir A.

1010-1015 Welcome speech of the director of the Institute of Physics of SSU, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor Venig Sergey B.

1015-1800 Plenary session (Lecture-hall 11b)

1015-1045 «Congruent Matching Profile Segments (CMPS) for the Objective Comparison of Deformed Fired Bullets» Thompson Robert M., Song John, Chen Zhe, Soons Johannes A., Chu Wei, Nadal Maria E. NIST USA, Gaithersburg, USA

1050-1120 «Contribution of Test Shootings to Gunshot Wounds Studying» Tsiatis Nikolaos E. Forensic Science Division of Hellenic Police, Athens, Greece

1125-1145 «Review of the subjects discussed at the International Association of Firearm and Tool Marks Examiners (AFTE)» Giverts Pavel V. Ballistic laboratory Israel National Police, Jerusalem, Israel

1150-1210 «Specificity of forensic examination of home-made shotguns with home-made cartridges» Kochalski Esti, Hazon Asaf, Griber Sandra, Sofer Saad, Giverts Pavel V. Ballistic laboratory Israel National Police, Jerusalem, Israel

1215-1235 «Forensic examination of special purpose equipment produced in the People’s Republic of China and of unknown origin, 2012-2021» Yakovleva Elena A. Kyrgyz State Law Academy, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

1240-1300 «Some peculiarities of the production of complex ballistic and forensic medical examination at the National Bureau of Expertise of the Republic of Armenia» Oganisian Vaspur I., Mkhitaryan Karen G. National Bureau of Expertise of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia

1305-1325 «Problems of certification of weapons and cartridges produced by the Russian Federation in the Republic of Belarus» Valent Dmitry S. Joint-stock company “Kidma Tech”, Minsk, Republic of Belarus

1330-1350 «Specific features of accreditation of methods of ballistic examination in forensic institutions» Michael Dulgeru, Nitryan Alina Forensic and Judicial Expertise Center of General Police Inspectorate of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

1400-1440  Lunch

1440-1500 «On the criteria for evaluating the expert's conclusion and methods of forensic science» Kokin Andrey V. RFCFS of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia

1505-1525 «"POISC" Technology and its Application» Iliasov Yury V., Kurilov Konstantin S. LLC "SBC ENGINEERING", St. Petersburg, Russia

1530-1550 «The suicide by a deactivated firearm (case report)» Astapova Nadezhda V., Likhachev Artem S., Hartmann Veronica S., *Homutnikov Evgeniy A. RFCFS of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia *Bureau of Forensic Medicine, Moscow, Russia

1555-1615 «The differentiation issues of non-lethal weapons and special purpose tools used by law enforcement (forensic and medico-legal points of view)» Vladimirov Vladimir Yu., *Ermolova Elena I., **Potokova Maria E. Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Professional Education, Russian Ministry of Health, Moscow, Russia *Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Moscow, Russia **Russian Ministry of Interior Central Primary Healthcare Unit, Moscow, Russia

1620-1640 «Examination of the circumstances of the shot using the method of three-dimensional photogrammetry» Polyakova Anastasia V. National Research State University N.I. Lobachevsky, N. Novgorod, Russia

1645-1705 «Comprehensive studies of the traces and circumstances of the shot» Yumatov Vasil A. National Research State University N.I. Lobachevsky, N. Novgorod, Russia

1710-1730 «Forensic examination of large-caliber firearms. Current state and development prospects» Korovkin Dmitry S. Saint-Petersburg University of MIA of Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia

1735-1755 «Personal body armor as an object of ballistic and medico-forensic examinations» Garmanov Vladimir V. Main State Center for Forensic Medicine and Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, St. Petersburg, Russia

20th of October

1000-1340  Plenary Meeting (Lecture-hall 11b)

1000-1020 «Identification features of industrial needle percussion marking machines» Filimonov Alexey V., Sukharev Aleksey G. Joint-stock company «Strazh», Moscow, Russia

1025-1045 «Problems of classification of images of firing pin impressions by weapon specimens using neural networks» Fedorenko Vladimir A., Sorokina Ksenia O., *Giverts Pavel V. Saratov State University N.G. Chernyshevsky, Saratov, Russia *Ballistic laboratory Israel National Police, Jerusalem, Israel

1050-1110 «Analysis of traces on fired bullets using a combined method based on СMPS and K-nearest neighbors» Sorokina Ksenia O., Fedorenko Vladimir A., *Giverts Pavel V. Saratov State University N.G. Chernyshevsky, Saratov, Russia *Ballistic laboratory Israel National Police, Jerusalem, Israel

1115-1135 «The distance determination of the shot by the distribution of shot marks, when shooting shot shells with plastic containers» Voronkov Leonid Yu. Saratov State Law Academy, Saratov, Russia

1140-1200 «Possibilities for identifying reloading equipment by traces on reloaded cartridge cases» Gvozdkova Lyudmila S., Gvozdkov Sergey N., *Grabovets Evgeniy E. Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Saratov region, Saratov, Russia *Volgograd Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Volgograd, Russia

1205-1225 «Empirical study of morphological signs of traces of a shot with a shot shell on woven fabric» Zaitsev Vladimir V. Saratov State Law Academy, Saratov, Russia

1230- 1250 «Homemade firearm identification period» Matov Oleg R. Saratov State University N.G. Chernyshevsky, Saratov, Russia

1255-1315 «Enhancement of fingerprint on spent cartridge case using the Gabor filter» Kalinkin Mikhail Yu. Saratov State University N.G. Chernyshevsky, Saratov, Russia

1320-1340  The Closing Ceremony of the Conference

 

ABSTRACTS

«Congruent Matching Profile Segments (CMPS) for the Objective Comparison of Deformed Fired Bullets»

Thompson Robert M., Song John, Chen Zhe, Soons Johannes A., Chu Wei, Nadal Maria E.

Congruent Matching Profile Segments (CMPS)

We have introduced the Congruent Matching Profile Segments (CMPS) method for objective comparison of striated tool marks and apply it to bullet signature correlations [1,2]. The method is derived from the congruent matching cell (CMC) method developed for the comparison of impressed tool marks. The proposed method is designed to increase comparison accuracy by addressing the comparison challenges caused by striae profiles with different lateral scales, varying vertical (height) scales, and sections that are poorly marked or have little to no similarity. Instead of correlating the entire profiles extracted from striated tool marks, the method divides one of the compared profiles into segments. Each segment is then correlated with the other profile. Initial tests were performed on the land engraved areas (LEAs) of 35 bullets fired from 10 consecutively manufactured pistol barrels. The results show clear separation between the CMPS scores of the 549 known non-matching (KNM) LEA profiles and the 46 known matching (KM) LEA profiles [1,2].

Comparison of Distorted or Fragmented Bullets

In this presentation we will demonstrate the utility of the CMPS method to the comparison of distorted or fragmented fired bullets.  Most research and laboratory studies on computer-aided bullet comparisons address pristine bullets. However, evidence bullets found at a crime scene typically are deformed or fragmented with resulting distorted striation signatures on the Land Engraved Areas (LEAs) or missing LEAs, which will decrease the comparison score of same-source bullets [3,4].

To overcome this challenge, two modifications are applied: 1) A profile/image reconstruction algorithm is designed to straighten the deformed striation signatures; 2) A congruent matching profile segments (CMPS) method is utilized to obtain an objective comparison score between the extracted profiles from the LEAs. The CMPS method was developed at NIST [5] to address the possible presence of invalid (poorly marked) correlation areas and lateral scale distortions on a profile.

57 deformed bullets fired from the same 9 mm Luger caliber pistol with 7 different ammunition brands were used for validation tests. Of the 250 bullet LEAs available for measurements, 15 LEAs showed significant deformations, mainly lateral expansion, and shear towards the nose of the bullet. For each deformed bullet LEA, both the original and the reconstructed images were correlated with the remaining LEAs of the 56 bullets using the CMPS method. After the reconstruction process, samples with relatively large deformations and good striae visibility revealed significant improvement of CMPS scores. However, samples with minor deformation and approximately parallel striae, the correlation results were not improved significantly. The reconstruction process did not result in significant changes for different-phase comparison results [5].

 

References:

[1]       J. Song, W. Chu, D. Ott, "Proposed Congruent Matching Profile Segments (CMPS) Method for Bullet Signature Correlations," AFTE 2016 -47th Annual Training Seminar, May 2016, New Orleans, LA.

[2]       Zhe Chen, Wei Chu, Johannes A. Soons, Robert M. Thompson, John Song, Xuezeng Zhao,  “Fired bullet signature correlation using the Congruent Matching Profile Segments (CMPS) method”, Forensic Science International 305 (2019) 109964

[3]       R. M. Thompson, "Firearm Identification in the Forensic Science Laboratory," National District Attorneys Association, 2010.

[4]       M. Heizmann and F. Puente León, "Imaging and analysis of forensic striation marks," Optical Engineering, 42(12), December 2003, 3423–3432.

[5]       Zhe Chen, John Song, Johannes A. Soons, Robert M. Thompson, Xuezeng Zhao, Pilot study on deformed bullet correlation, Forensic Science International 306 (2020) 110098

 

«Contribution of Test Shootings to Gunshot Wounds Studying»

Tsiatis Nikolaos E.

Projectile path through the human body and caused injuries may not always be predictable as they depend on a variety of factors, such as shooting distance, the angle of impact, impact velocity, affected tissue, etc. The physical characteristics of different parts of the body stand to play a role in projectile behavior, the bullet path, penetration depth and created temporary / permanent cavities. Besides, the quantity of energy transferred to tissues by the projectile and the characteristics of the particular tissue determine the extent of tissue damage surrounding the projectile path [1].

Any subsequent effort to reconstruct the shooting using tissue simulant materials, such as ballistic soap and ballistic gelatin, has been found to be useful in wound ballistics studies and enables us to document and record the wound track that a bullet follows in a simulation of the human body. Nevertheless, it is necessary to recognize that the best of measurements is an approximation of reality, and has some uncertainty associated with it [2]. Furthermore, CT technology can be used after scanning the fired materials by a CT scanner, rendering our objective easier, as any deflection, the total path length and the final resting point of the projectile can be observed with great accuracy to evaluate the effectiveness of the used projectiles. In addition, this technology can be used for calculating the density of scanned blocks, taking several measurements from different areas, covering their whole surface [3].

The contribution of modern wound ballistic experimentation seems important as it provides crucial information regarding bullet path within the human body. In this study experimental shots performed with various types of firearms and ammunition that varied in bullet type.

Simulation of gunshot wounds through experimental shootings in tissue simulant materials may prove quite useful in aiding forensic pathology practice, as they simply document a projectile’s path through the human body, thus providing an invaluable confirmation of the autopsy findings, understanding the injurious effects on the human body by the type of bullet associated with the victim’s gunshot wounds [4].

References

[1] Korac Z., Kelenc D., Ba.kot An., Mikulic D., Hanèevic J. Substitute Ellipse of the Permanent Cavity in Gelatin Blocks and Debridement of Gunshot Wounds. Military Medicine, Vol. 166, 2001, p.689.

[2]       Haag M.G., Haag L.C. Shooting Incident Reconstruction. 2nd edition, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 2011, p.232.

[3]       Silva I.M., Freitas D.Q., Ambrosano G.M.B., Bóscolo F.N., Almeida S.M. Bone Density: Comparative Evaluation of Hounsfield Units in Multislice and Cone-Beam Computed Tomography. Braz. Oral. Res., Vol. 6, 2012, pp. 550–556.

[4] Tsiatis N., Spiliopoulou C., Papadodima S., Moraitis K. Analysis of Experimental Wound Paths in Tissue Simulants Using CT Scanning, Part II: Shots into Ballistic Gelatin. AFTE Jour., Vol. 50, No: 3, 2018, pp.147-160.

 

«Review of the subjects discussed at the International Association of Firearm and Tool Marks Examiners (AFTE)»

Giverts Pavel V.

The AFTE is the biggest international professional organization for practitioners of Firearm and Toolmark Identification. It is dedicated to the exchange of information, methods and best practices. Part of the activity of the association is to arrange six-day annual meetings, publication of a peer-reviewed Journal and hosting of an internet forum dedicated to professional issues.

This presentation reviews the most interesting materials from the last annual meeting held in Miami and the articles that have been published in the AFTE Journal since the last meeting in Saratov in 2019. Also, most important and interesting discussions from the AFTE Forum will be observed.

 

 

«Specificity of forensic examination of home-made shotguns with home-made cartridges»

Kochalski Esti, Hazon Asaf, Griber Sandra, Sofer Saad, Giverts Pavel V.

One of the questions, which a forensic firearms examiner during the examination of homemade firearms has to answer is to determine if the examined evidence has a potential to cause the lethal injury. In most of countries the criterion of lethality is the specific energy of the bullet/projectile. According to Israeli methodology the examined evidence is consider a firearm if a bullet discharged from it has specific energy above 32J/cm2. In most cases for the determination of this parameter the test fire is provided and the bullet’s velocity is measured. When the velocity, the diameter and the weight of the bullet are known the specific energy can be calculated. But, in some cases the determination of the specific energy can be tricky. For example, one of the types of homemade firearms which comes for the examination to the ballistic laboratory of Israeli police is a homemade shotgun which utilizes homemade shotshells. Since this type of homemade firearms shoots pellets and not bullets, it is impossible to measure the velocity, diameter and wight for every projectile. In the presentation the construction of the homemade shotguns and homemade shotshells is described. The review of different methods of velocity or energy measurements is provided. The method of lethality determination by the use of synthetic tissue simulators such as PermaGel is demonstrated.

 

«Forensic examination of special purpose equipment produced in the People’s Republic of China and of unknown origin, 2012-2021»

Yakovleva Elena A.

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, a greater number of manufactured fireworks (flashbangs, smoke grenades with irritants, smoke grenades with coloured smoke, streakball grenades etc.) have been brought into the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic from various sources. All of these devices are being subjected to explosive testing.
Forensic experts in the Kyrgyz Republic encountered a complete lack of information on their design features and on the tactical and technical characteristics of the chemical composition of charges.
In the course of the tests, these facilities were considered to be unknown explosive devices and a detailed examination was made of the design of these objects and their components, markings if present, landfill tests to examine fragments of their parts after use, Chemical analysis of filling composition by drip testing and IR spectroscopy, etc.
At the moment, information is being systematized on the group of objects studied (flashlights and smoke grenades produced by PRC and unknown manufacturers), data on forensic features and properties of pyrotechnics, their purpose. A manual on these facilities is being prepared, along the lines of previously published expert manuals, to provide expert units with an appropriate and developed information and methodological base.

 

«Some peculiarities of the production of complex ballistic and forensic medical examination at the National Bureau of Expertise of the Republic of Armenia»

Oganisian Vaspur I., Mkhitaryan Karen G.

Most crimes are committed using a smooth-bore hunting gun. The nature of the defeat by this type of weapon differs from the wound caused by a rifled weapon cartridge. The experts of the National Bureau of Examinations of the Republic of Armenia (NBE RA) can reliably determine the distance and mutual position of the victim and the front muzzle slice of the hunting smooth-bore gun, from which the shot was fired. The NBE RA has worked out methodological recommendations that make it possible to prepare the most complete and evidentiary integrated conclusions with the help of complex forensic ballistic and forensic medical examinations. Primary attention is paid to some specific features: angular characteristics of injuries (nature of damage to the entrance and exit holes), fixation of signs of a close shot, obtaining contactograms of experimental targets, determining the quantitative content of individual components included in the shot products, determining the direction and angle to the weapon axis of the cartridge case ejection, etc.

Thus, the integrated formulation of conclusions and the required level of technological methodology, achieved in the NBE RA, contribute to the qualitative formation of the conclusions of complex expert examinations.

 

«Specific features of accreditation of methods of ballistic examination in forensic institutions»

Michael Dulgeru, Nitryan Alina

This article describes the specifics of the accreditation process of the firearms identification method carried out by the Ballistics Laboratory of the Technical-Criminalistics and Forensic Expertise Center of the Republic of Moldova, in accordance with the standard SM EN ISO/IEC 17025: 2018 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.

 Transmits the experience of the ballistic laboratory regarding the stages and problems encountered in the method validation process, the choice of criteria for its validation and ensuring the validity of experimental results.

The authors propose solutions for developing and maintaining a quality system in the laboratory, following the recommendations of the ILAC-G-19 Modules in the forensic science process manual and other relevant documents, including the European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA).

 

«On the criteria for evaluating the expert's conclusion and methods of forensic science»

Kokin Andrey V.

The report examines approaches to assessing the reliability of an expert's conclusion for Russian and Anglo-Saxon criminal proceedings. Presented a results of the analysis of the compliance of Russian methods with the Fry and Daubert standards, which determine criteria for methods used in conducting forensic examination  in the United States. Also discusses other foreign projects aimed at minimizing erroneous conclusions and reforming the system of forensic examination: the Innocence project, reports prepared by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS report) and the US Presidential Council for Science and Technology (PCAST report). Demonstrated inconsistency of criticism of the identification method as unreliable and subjective based on the analysis of tests of examination of marks of firearms on fired bullets and cartridges, as well as traces of other tools.

 

«"POISC" Technology and its Application»

Iliasov Yury V., Kurilov Konstantin S.

The work provides a review of the equipment and software constituting «POISC» technology. The main hardware of POISC technology comprises POISC scanner, POISC photo-module, POISC-MC, POISC photo-stand.

POISC scanner is used for survey of a cartridge-case head surface, unrolling the side surface of a bullet with weapon marks, highlighting and storing the images of traces and their parameters in a database, automatic search throughout the database for similar objects, implementing the forensic-ballistics identification examinations. 

POISC photo-module is a new development of SBC Engineering Company, and is intended to create digital images of objects (bullets/cartridge cases) found at a crime scene or provided by test shooting. It is also used to determine the type of a cartridge and the model of a weapon these were fired from, based on traces parameters on bullets and cartridge cases and their reciprocal three-dimensional position, measured on the digital image of an object.

POISC-MC is a new advanced development, and is intended for micro- and macro-photography of the examined objects with sizes up to 300х400 mm (traces on bullets and cartridge cases, short-barrelled, cold steel and projectile weapons, headstamps etc.). POISC photo-stand is adapted for macro-photography of the examined objects with sizes up to 900х2000 mm.

POISC software is used to control objects photography in POISC scanner, POISC photo-module, POISC-MC, POISC photo-stand, to highlight traces on bullets and cartridge cases, to make auto-search and its analysis, to assess images quality and correctness of data in a “bullet library” and a “cartridge case library”, to connect to electronic information catalogues etc.

POISC technologies are used during criminalistics examinations, creating databases of bullets, cartridge cases, cartridges, criminal, certified and registered weapons and other evidences. The technologies allow co-examining all the evidences found at a crime scene, so allowing revealing latent connections between them. POISC technologies are also used for cartridges and firearms certification, firearms registration etc.

 

«The suicide by a deactivated firearm (case report)»

Astapova Nadezhda V., Likhachev Artem S., Hartmann Veronica S., Homutnikov Evgeniy A.

Several complex forensic medicine and ballistics examinations were made in RFCFS during the investigation of a suicide

А number of complex forensic ballistic and forensic medical examinations were carried out by the experts from RFCFS and Bureau of Forensic Medicine  in a criminal case initiated on the fact of driving a minor to suicide. The death of the victim occurred as a result of a blind gunshot wound to the head. At the scene of the incident, a TT-CO pistol related to a decommissioned weapon (blank-firer), and a cartridge case were found. According to the testimony of the witness, the shot was made by the victim himself, in the right temporal region.

The investigation had certain doubts about the possibility of inflicting such a wound from this pistol, both in principle and to the victim himself, under the circumstances indicated by the witness. During the production of expert examinations, the possibility of inflicting head injuries with the destruction of the bones of the skull and brain matter, as well as the presence of GSR on the victim's hands, was experimentally established.

 

«The differentiation issues of non-lethal weapons and special purpose tools used by law enforcement (forensic and medico-legal points of view)»

Vladimirov Vladimir Yu., Ermolova Elena I., Potokova Maria E.

The article touches upon the topical issues in forensic weapon study that are tied to the differentiation necessity of so called non-lethal weapon and law enforcement services special tools as well. The lack of any criteria for group pertaining identification of such articles, devices or substances creates a lot of legal conflicts. These collisions in their turn sophisticate adequate criminal evaluation and regulation of its movement in civil, military and law enforcement realms and in the schemes and restrictions development as well in order to determinate the optimality of non-lethal weapon kill effects and law enforcement services special tools specific qualities that provokes unbiased difficulties at managing certified diagnostic medico-biological tests.

 

«Examination of the circumstances of the shot using the method of three-dimensional photogrammetry»

Polyakova Anastasia V.

The article considers the possibilities of constructing three-dimensional models based on photographs taken during the production of investigative actions, in particular, the inspection of the crime scene, using photogrammetry software packages. Using the example of solving diagnostic problems to establish the circumstances of a shot, the creation of three-dimensional models based on photographs without the use of expensive equipment was demonstrated during forensic ballistics examination.

 

«Comprehensive studies of the traces and circumstances of the shot»

Yumatov Vasil A.

The article considered modern methods of studying shot products that lie at the junction of forensic firearm examination and examination of materials, substances and products. The problems associated with the seizure and preparation of materials for examination, the choice of research methods during preliminary studies and further forensic examination were identified. The sensitivity of expert methods was analyzed when determining the products of the shot on the hands of the shooter, the type of ammunition used and its parts, the group affiliation of the firearms used.

 

«Forensic examination of large-caliber firearms. Current state and development prospects»

Korovkin Dmitry S.

At the moment, in the Russian Federation, within the framework of forensic ballistics examination, a study of rifled firearms belonging to the category of hand-held small firearms, the caliber of which does not exceed 12.5 mm, respectively, cartridges for it, is being carried out. The study of firearms of a larger caliber, and especially objects that have a caliber of more than 20 mm, causes certain difficulties of a methodological, organizational and technical nature. This is due to the fact that, for example, in the system of professional training of expert personnel in educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, within the framework of teaching forensic ballistics and forensic ballistics expertise, firearms belonging to the categories of large-caliber machine guns, anti-tank rifles, automatic grenade launchers, and especially artillery guns are not considered. As a result, the expert community does not have the appropriate methodological recommendations, an instrument panel.

 

«Personal body armor as an object of ballistic and medico-forensic examinations»

Garmanov Vladimir V.

In the report, using examples from expert practice, the tasks and possibilities of ballistic and complex medico-forensic studies of gunshot injuries to modern personal body armor (PBA) - bulletproof vest and armored helmets based on textile and composite organoplastic armor are considered. The analysis of morphological signs of gunshot injuries on non-biological barriers (PBA materials) was carried out. The algorithms for carrying out complex medical and forensic studies of gunshot injuries (wounds) of persons when they use personal body armor are shown.

 

«Identification features of industrial needle percussion marking machines»

Filimonov Alexey V., Sukharev Aleksey G.

The purpose of this work is to improve the methodology of mechanoscopic examination of production and technological traces. The subject of the research is the constructive and technological properties of needle-eroded installations used in production for applying markings and the regularities of the trace formation process.

On the basis of the methodology developed in trasological mechanoscopy, the classification of signs displayed in the traces of acupuncture marking into group and individualizing is carried out. The identification complex of functional features of the marking installation, expressing its design characteristics and features of the technological process, is revealed.

The stability of displaying signs of stationary needle-eroded installations in traces of marking of mass-produced products is investigated. Experimental studies have confirmed the possibility of solving diagnostic and identification problems on the traces of acupuncture marking.

 

«Problems of classification of images of firing pin impressions by weapon specimens using neural networks»

Fedorenko Vladimir A., Sorokina Ksenia O., Giverts Pavel

Recently, neural networks have been widely used in forensic science. The use of neural networks to identify firearms from digital images of firearm pin marks is complicated by the small number of images for each specimen of  weapon. This is due to the fact that when the cartridge case (bullet case) is formed, each weapon is fired with 3 cartridges. Studies of the variability of firing pin impression have shown that this problem can be solved by forming clonal images of firing pin marks with individualizing characteristics changed within certain limits.

Preliminary studies of the possibility of classification of striker marks were carried out using a fully connected neural network. The effectiveness of training a neural network has been studied, and the accuracy of predicting the classes of objects under study has been assessed. The initial training sample included 136 objects representing 48 classes (weapons). The test sample included 52 objects from all 48 classes. The prediction accuracy of the class of test images was determined in accordance with the Accuracy metric and amounted to about 69%. The prediction accuracy increased to 73% after increasing the number of objects in the training sample by 2 times due to the generation of new clone images. The network retraining time turned out to be an order of magnitude less than its training time. Then the training sample was increased to 1000 objects by rotating the original images by small angles (±35°). The prediction accuracy was 85%.

Studies have shown the possibility of solving the problem with the use of neural networks in general, the prospects for the transition to the Siamese convolutional neural network. To increase the forecasting accuracy, an increase in the number of objects in the training sample is required. The efficiency of application of artificially generated clone images of striker traces at the stage of neural network training is shown.

 

«Analysis of traces on fired bullets using a combined method based on СMPS and K-nearest neighbors»

Sorokina Ksenia O., Fedorenko Vladimir A., Giverts Pavel

The report discusses the problem of classification into the categories of “match” and “non-match” for compared images of land impressions on discharged bullets. The aim of the research is to increase the effectiveness of the comparison of images of land impressions by the congruent matching profile segments (CMPS) method. The scientific novelty is in adding to the analysis an additional independent feature, as well as the use of the k-nearest neighbors algorithm at the final stage of traces comparison. The research shows that the accuracy of the classification for the compared pairs of the land impression images by the combined method is about 87%. The work establishes that the analysis of the images by the CMPS method makes it possible to effectively compare images of land impressions with high resolution (less or about 1 μm per pixel). The research is of interest to software developers of automated ballistic identification systems.

 

«The distance determination of the shot by the distribution of shot marks, when shooting shot shells with plastic containers»

Voronkov Leonid Yu.

In this work, we compared the results obtained from the Lisitsyn nomogram with real data obtained when shooting cartridges, factory equipment with wads of containers. The experiment was carried out in a closed shooting range; targets made of metal sheets 1 mm thick, chipboards and wallpaper were chosen. Shooting was carried out from three distances: 5.10.15 meters, half of the targets were located at an angle of 90 degrees, the other half at an angle of 75 degrees. A total of 54 shots were fired: 18 at targets made of wallpaper, 18 at metal sheets and 18 at chipboards. The weapon used in the experiment was a 12-gauge IZH-27M hunting rifle specimen. Shooting was carried out from the upper barrel with a chok muzzle narrowing, cartridges of the Russian company "NPF" AZOT ", the model" Azot Russian Hunter B / K. " tears in the target material of various shapes caused by containers flew by wads were revealed on the target. In order to compare the results obtained with the nomogram of A.F. Lisitsyn, the minimum and maximum scattering diameters of the shot at three distances were determined. The range from which a shot could have been fired is 1.5-3.5 meters The difference between the actual distance and the upper limit of the distance interval is 1.5 meters At other distances the actual values ​​were about a third greater than the upper limit of the distance interval shot determined according to Lisitsyn's nomogram. amma for determining the distance of the shot along the traces of scree, focused on damage caused by shot No.00. Thus, in the presence of a trace of the wad of a container, it is better to construct an experimental dependence similar to that proposed in the work.

 

«Possibilities for identifying reloading equipment by traces on reloaded cartridge cases»

Gvozdkova Lyudmila S., Gvozdkov Sergey N., Grabovets Evgeniy E.

Reloading equipment is considered as a production mechanism depositing traces on the surface of the reloaded cases.

The common features characterizing reloading equipment in total are: availability of all necessary structural elements, their shape, dimensions, placement, mutual disposition of parts and mechanisms; particular attributes being some features of microrelief produced by trace-forming parts. These signs are revealed in the form of minor jaggies and defects.

To conduct comparative studies the coincident features of cases surface microrelief are suitable. In their totality these features are insufficient for individual identification, but they are quite capable of characterizing and limiting a certain group of objects.

In the case of identification (selecting a group of objects from a multitude, determining their group belongings) there used the structural features of their cutting surfaces, their traces being imprinted on the processed parts.  As a whole, they are suitable for identifying the instrument that formed them.  Defects in trace-forming objects (matrices, shellhorder, etc.) can also be seen in the traces on the cases as subclass features.

These features can be taken into account in the comparative study of cases to establish the fact of reloading using the same production mechanisms.

 

«Empirical study of morphological signs of traces of a shot with a shot shell on woven fabric»

Zaitsev Vladimir V.

The subject of this work is the actual data obtained during the empirical study of the possibilities of determining the morphological signs of traces of a shot with a shotgun on woven materials directly during the inspection of accident sites, which will optimize the existing methods of inspection of accident sites upon the use of firearms.

In the course of research on woven materials, a number of morphological features were identified that were not previously noted by researchers and that allow to display the situation of the accident scene with a higher degree of reliability and facilitate further expert research.

 

«Homemade firearm identification period»

Matov Oleg R.

To establish the identification period in improvised firearms, experiments were carried out, during which it was found that a number of factors influence the identification period in improvised firearms. In the study of the dependence of the preservation of the unchanged individualizing complex of signs in the traces on the bullets and casings, it was revealed that the identification period of a homemade weapon is much shorter than that of a factory one, which must be taken into account in expert practic.

 

«Enhancement of fingerprint on spent cartridge case using the Gabor filter»

Kalinkin Mikhail Yu.

In automated fingerprint identification systems, the quality of recognition depends on digital filtering. A Gabor filtering method is proposed to enhance the image of a fingerprint. This approach allows to alter the intensity of certain parts of the image. The functions used depend on two parameters m and n. Changing them leads to a change in the quality of areas of the image. The fingerprint on the spent cartridge case has been processed with a Gabor filter. The contours in the image appear to be more accurate.

 

POSTER PRESENTATION SECTION

«Determination of the Criterion for Assigning Traces in Aligned Land Impression Marks to the Category «Matching» by using the Shannon Entropy Minimization

Method»

Myasnikov Nikita N.

To ensure automatic counting of coincident striations  in aligned dynamic traces, it is necessary to define the criteria for assigning striations to the "coincident" category. It is proposed to use the degree of path overlap from 10% to 100% as the investigated characteristic.  We selected 10 pairs of obviously coinciding traces and 10 pairs of obviously non-coinciding traces, combined in an optimal way. For each intersection (10%, 20%, …), the number of coincident striations was counted both for obviously coinciding pairs of traces and for knowingly not coinciding pairs of traces. On the numerical axis, the values ​​of the numbers of combined striations for all analyzed traces were located. Then the value of the path overlap was determined at which the minimum value of the Shannon entropy was observed. The state of the system with the lowest entropy value is characterized by its maximum orderliness, which means the best separation of the sets "coinciding traces" and "non-coinciding traces".

Calculations have shown that for secondary marks on bullets fired from a Makarov pistol, the optimal criterion is the intersection of trails of at least 70%.

 

«Principles of Forming Clone Images of Firing Pin Traces for Training a Neural Network»

Demchenko Vitaly V.

The main problem of using neural networks to classify images of firing pin impressions according to weapons is the small number of initial images for each class. The study of the variability of the firing pin impressions showed that the most probable changes in the image occur in areas characterized by a small gradient in brightness. This makes it possible to predict the most probable areas of change in the brightness of the images of firing pin impressions belonging to the same class (weapon specimen).

The author proposes a method for the formation of clonal images of striker marks, taking into account areas with a low gradient in brightness, reflectivity of the surface of various capsules, and removal of artifacts. Preliminary studies have shown that this method is promising for a multiple increase in the number of objects in the training sample for both fully connected and convolutional neural networks.