Table 2.

Brief timeline of recent U.S. efforts to strengthen forensic science.

Date	Event
November 2005	U.S. Congress authorizes the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study on forensic science, which is subsequently funded by a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
January 2007–November 2008	A 17-member “Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Science Community” is established by NAS, meets eight times, hears from 70 presenters, and discusses information received
February 2009	Based on the NAS committee efforts, the National Research Council issues a 352-page report entitled “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward” which proposes 13 recommendations (see Table 1); in forensic circles, this report is referred to as “the NAS Report”
July 2009–December 2012	The White House National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on Science establishes a Subcommittee on Forensic Science (SoFS) that operates with five Interagency Working Groups (IWGs); deliberations involve dozens of meetings over a three-and-a-half year period with nearly 200 subject matter experts spanning 23 Federal departments and agencies and 49 state and local participants; SoFS IWG activities conclude with hopes to share information learned
June 2010	NIJ-sponsored Forensic Death Investigation Symposium held in Scottsdale, Arizona [140]
September 2010	NSF-sponsored workshop “Cognitive Bias and Forensic Science” held in Chicago, Illinois
February 2012	NIST-organized working group publishes “Latent Print Examination and Human Factors: Improving the Practice through a Systems Approach”
November 2012	Forensics@NIST 2012 conference and webcast held to showcase NIST activities in forensic science
December 2012	NSF-sponsored workshop “Strengthening Forensic Sciences through Connections with the Analytical Sciences” held in Arlington, Virginia
February 2013	The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announce plans to form the National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS), as a federal advisory group to DOJ, and to establish scientific guidance groups that will be administered by NIST; one of the duties in the NCFS charter is “to consider the recommendations of the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Forensic Science”
April 2013	NIST-organized working group publishes “The Biological Evidence Preservation Handbook: Best Practices for Evidence Handlers”
April 2013	NIST-organized forensic governance meeting held in Washington, DC, which includes a discussion of an article written by Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi from the Netherlands Forensic Institute on trends and challenges
June 2013	NIST meets with the chairs of current Scientific Working Groups (SWGs) (see Table 3) to discuss potential structures for an organization to house the guidance groups
August 2013	The National Science Foundation (NSF) issues a “Dear Colleague Letter” encouraging submission of grant proposals on topics involving forensic science
September–November 2013	NIST gathers information from a public Notice of Inquiry regarding aspects of guidance groups; 82 responses are received including input from the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Australia
September 2013–April 2014	The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) establishes a research strategy working group consisting of representatives of DOJ, NIST, and NSF to discuss potential methods to improve forensic science research efforts
January 2014	The National Commission on Forensic Science membership is announced and involves a range of stakeholders including judges, lawyers, academic researchers, and practitioners
February 2014	At the first NCFS meeting, which is held in Washington, DC, NIST announces a proposed structure for the scientific guidance groups called the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)
February 2014	In conjunction with the first NCFS meeting, a 10-page document entitled “Strengthening Forensic Science: A Progress Report” is issued by OSTP with input from the research strategy working group
February 2014	At the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) meeting in Seattle (and via webcast), NIST presenters provide a detailed description of the planned OSAC structure
May 2014	Just prior to the second NCFS meeting, a 79-page report entitled “Strengthening the Forensic Sciences” is issued by the White House that describes information learned by the SoFS regarding accreditation, certification, proficiency testing, and a proposed national code of ethics for forensic service providers
May 2014	Based on input from the OSTP research strategy working group, NSF announces a “Dear Colleague Letter” encouraging submission of applications for Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) in forensic science
July 2014	The National Research Council issues a 252-page report entitled “Science Needs for Microbial Forensics: Developing Initial International Research Priorities”
August 2014	Just prior to the third NCFS meeting, NIST announces plans to fund a Forensic Center of Excellence focused on development and deployment of probabilistic methods for pattern evidence and digital evidence
October 2014	Just prior to the fourth NCFS meeting, OSTP issues a draft report entitled “Achieving Interoperability for Latent Fingerprint Identification in the United States” (see update on report below)
December 2014	Forensics@NIST 2014 conference and webcast held to showcase NIST research activities four program areas: digital forensics, DNA, ballistics/toolmarks, and statistics
January 2015	First in-person OSAC subcommittee meetings held in Norman, OK
January 2015	At the fifth NCFS meeting, recommendations were approved by the Commission regarding the scientific literature in support of forensic science and accreditation of medicolegal death investigation (MDI) offices and certification of MDI personnel by 2020 (see www.justice.gov/ncfs)
February 2015	OSAC holds its first public Scientific Area Committee meetings in conjunction with the AAFS meeting
April 2015	NCFS charter is renewed for an additional two years, and the prohibition on developing or recommending guidance regarding digital evidence is removed
April 2015	During the sixth NCFS meeting, OSTP issues final report entitled “Achieving Interoperability for Latent Fingerprint Identification in the United States” [141]
Ongoing	NIJ funds numerous research grants in forensic science and fellowships for graduate students (see www.nij.gov)