SAFDE 2024 Conference
Please complete the form below to register for the 2024 SAFDE Meeting.
Non-SAFDE Members must receive an invitation to attend the Conference.
Dates
The 36th SAFDE Conference and Business Meeting are scheduled for April 26th through April 27th, 2024 with the Workshop scheduled for the day before, April 25th, 2024. The SAFDE 2024 Meeting Site will be in Biloxi, Mississippi. Please continue to check back for Meeting updates.
Site Information
Our Meeting Hotel is Biloxi Gulf Coast Hotel | Hyatt Place Biloxi. Please use this link to book your room. The cut-off date is March 1, 2024.
- Site Chair: Rigo Vargas
Workshops:
Knight Abbey Print Shop Tour
Two-hour tour on the morning of April 25th of local printing facility to observe traditional offset printing, digital printing, and the bindery process. Check out the website for more information: Knight Abbey
“Separating Ground Truth from Provable Opinions”
Half-day workshop in the afternoon of April 25th presented by Detective Lieutenant Mark Goff of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab and Senior Crime Lab Analyst Kate Butler of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
FDEs participate in many standardized examinations for research and testing. These examinations are typically reported using an abbreviated conclusion scale consisting of 5 points with 2 degrees of association, 2 degrees of non-association and an indeterminate option. In these standardized examinations, the FDE is often asked to express opinions about multiple writers, where the ground truth is known. While standardization and ground truth answers are beneficial for mass testing, they may not be representative of the true conclusions expressed by qualified FDEs.
In this workshop, attendees can expect to learn about the history of proficiency testing, its evolution within the forensic sciences as well as the current methods of reaching consensus answers, specifically in Document Examination. The instruction will also include a discussion on relevant FDE standards and accreditation considerations, and strategies to combat problematic conclusions in research, proficiency testing, and casework.
Note: The 1/2-day workshop is worth 3 ABFDE recertification points and the Print Shop tour is worth 1 ABFDE recertification point.
- Workshop Chair: Wendy Toulomelis
Program
- Program Chair: Meg O’Brien