258 Forensic dentistry
Selection of workers in the odontology section is important. Hopefully all
the workers have been trained in similar fashion and are aware of protocols
in use. For extended operations, new workers are needed to replace those that
have finished their tour of duty. The chief odontologist should have a stan-
dard procedure for reviewing applicants and verifying the accuracy of their
credentials. Each new member needs to be closely monitored to ensure he or
she understands what his or her role is to be and how important accuracy is
to the identification process. Experienced and new workers must be moni-
tored for physical and emotional stress and each case handled appropriately.
The chief odontologist will establish how each case will be signed out.
Most use the American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO) guidelines
and terminology.^8 Whether identifications are reviewed by the chief or a
committee should be decided at the beginning of an MFI operation. These
identification records are then given to the overall team leader or control
center for processing. Most operations then require the identifying section
to review the identification and all records before final release of the victim’s
body to the family. This gives one last point of quality control before the case
leaves the chain-of-evidence control of the MFI command.
12.8 Computer Assistance Programs and
Digital InformationThere has been a natural evolution of computer-assisted identification
programs to aid in comparing records of postmortem and antemortem
cases.^9 The first DOS-based program was Computer-Assisted Postmortem
Identification (CAPMI), developed by the Army and used many times with
great success. With the development of MS Windows, Dr. James McGivney
developed WinID. WinID uses an MS Access database and a Windows
format to enter and store antemortem and postmortem record information.
It assigns a unique number to each case and will not allow duplication of
numbers. There are other programs under development and being tested, but
most teams currently train with WinID.
12.9 Digital and Conventional Images
Digital images are now widely accepted and used for identification proce-
dures.^10 Digital photographs and radiographs are very similar, with the main
difference being the fact that photographs are created by the detection of light
by the sensor, while the radiographic sensors detect radiation from an x-ray
source. Digital imaging eliminates darkrooms and chemical processors and