تسجيل الدخول

تسجيل

TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINERS

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  p522-523

2026-08-24

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TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINERS

There are no formal college-based education programs in questioned document analysis in the United States and it is unlikely that there will be in the future. There are some college courses in questioned document analysis that can provide a theoretical foundation for the field, but questioned document analysis, like firearms and tool marks, and fingerprints, is essentially a classical apprenticeship field. The trainee may spend several years studying with an accomplished professional in the field. After passing a number of tests and exercises, the trainee may then become a journey man questioned document examiner. There is a certification program in the United States for questioned document examiners administered by the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners (ASQDE). A typical training program for a questioned document examiner trainee would consist of formal coursework, if any is available, reading and studying the relevant basic and advanced books and journals that are concerned with all aspects of docu ment examination, and study and examination of actual questioned documents under the supervision of the trainer. There are also quality assurance and control materials including blind tests and then mock trial exercises that must be successfully completed. The trainee would also be expected to learn the relevant statutes and legal considerations that govern the examination, reporting, and expert testimony of questioned documents. There is a significant shortage of trained questioned document examiners and the apprenticeship is very long. It might be possible for universi ties to develop programs whereby a prospective document examiner can do all of the “book learning” about history and practice that needs to be done as part of the learning process, and then join a journeyman examiner for the apprenticeship part. This could significantly reduce the cost and time of the apprenticeship.