title: Establishing likelihood ratios for patterned garment comparisons from seam measurement data.
abstract: It is often challenging to ascribe an objective measure of confidence for identifications based on surveillance imagery from a crime scene. The present work seeks to address this deficiency in the case of garment comparison evidence by developing a quantitative method for establishing a conservative lower bound on the likelihood ratio (LR) for identifications involving patterned garments. The method is based on statistical analysis of pattern offset measurements taken from a sample of garments of the same type (manufacturer, style, and size) as the seized evidence. The developed analysis framework was demonstrated on different types of garments over a range of modeled surveillance imaging scenarios with variable image quality; the lower bounds on the LRs ranged from approximately 10-1 to over 400-1. The statistical model was tested and validated through a large-scale empirical study involving both simulated and human observer-performed garment comparisons.
authors.affiliation: Quantum Signal LLC, 200 N. Ann Arbor St., Saline, MI 48176, USA.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Victor E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Perlin
authors.forename: Mitchell M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rohde
authors.forename: Alice C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Cuong Q
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Luu
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang