Scientific Examination of Documents ― Methods and Techniques

Revised and expanded to reflect the most recent innovations in the field of forensic document examination, the book explains the various methods used to scrutinize documents in question. Coverage includes the assessment of handwriting techniques, accidental and deliberate modification of handwriting, and the proper collection of samples. It also reviews traditional and modern typewriting technologies, as well as the analysis of photocopies, incidental marks, the functions of photography in document examination, and courtroom applications. New sections address Arabic writing, signature machines, quality control and quality assurance, current printers and printer technology, and much more.

Stephen Day has a BSc. and PhD from the University of Bristol. He began his career as a Document Examiner at the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory in 1981, transferring to the UK Home Office Forensic Science Service in 1993 to become head of their Questioned Documents team. He has examined thousands of documents and appeared in Court on numerous occasions as an expert witness. He acted as the Lead Scientist for the discipline within the Forensic Science Service between the years of 1999 and 2006, during which time he chaired the European Questioned Documents Working Group for the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes from 2002 to 2004. In 2011 Steve joined the University of East Anglia to become course director for the Forensic and Investigative Chemistry MChem. degree program. This has meant broadening his knowledge in all aspects of forensic science. He still lectures at UEA as a senior lecturer in Forensic Chemistry.

David Ellen was in the field of Forensic Science for 43 years. For 29 of these years he specialised in the forensic examination of questioned documents, mostly in the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory, London, England, and also in the Forensic Science Centre in Adelaide, South Australia, then in private practice in London. He was secretary of the Questioned Document Section of the meeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences in Adelaide in 1990 and has trained and inspired a generation of new Document Examiners. He is now retired.

Christopher Davies started work in the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory in 1981 where he was trained in questioned document examination. He continued to work in London when the Metropolitan Police Laboratory became part of the Forensic Science Service in 1996. He became one of the senior document examiners responsible for dealing with serious crime, including counter-terrorism, cases. In 2010 he left the London Laboratory when the Questioned Documents Section there was closed and continues to work as an independent consultant. He is also the ISO/IEC 17025 technical assessor for questioned documents for the United Kingdom Accreditation Service.