Trends in the Development of Forensic Face Recognition

Abstract

The mobility of digital technologies results in the increased number of conducted forensic facial recognitions on video materials obtained during investigations of criminal incidents. Unfortunately, a significant amount of research ends with the conclusion that it is impossible to identify the person in question, because there is not a sufficient number of anatomical features displayed on the video. The author has tried to analyze and reflect on the existing problems, to offer their solutions. To overcome the negative trends in forensic facial recognition a complex of measures is suggested: 1) to improve the quality of methodological support of expert research; 2) to use the entire spectrum of human appearance characteristics (including complex and dynamic) for solving the identifications tasks; 3) to modernize comparison methods through introduction of information technologies; 4) to expand the scope of legal regulation of forensic expertise. In the context of the author’s comprehensive cross-sectoral approach to the procedure of appointment and conduct of identificational facial recognition, its effectiveness will depend on the quality of enhancement of the methodological, legal and technical support for expert research of the entire volume of visual information about a person captured on a video recording.

Keywords

• forensic face recognition
• information technologies
• methodological support
• identification of a person
• elements of a person's appearance
• complex and dynamic characteristics