Canadian fingerprint analyst Shane Turnidge has been part of the forensic identification landscape for more than thirty-three years.
Since retiring from public service in 2017, he has owned and operated an independent expert fingerprint and palm print consultancy, “SSTForensics”.
His business in Canada has helped several advocates understand the true extent of the evidence faced by their clients.
Skills and knowledge
Shane’s knowledge, skills and experiences were gained while working for both the Peel Regional Police and the Toronto Police Service in their respective Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) sections.
His public service career as a fingerprint examiner began in 1990. He was involved in extensive casework and has identified thousands of individuals to impressions made by their friction skin. He has worked on many high-profile cases and has testified in various Court proceedings, even at federal tax Court.
He was appointed a fingerprint examiner under section 667 of the Criminal Code of Canada. He was also certified to search and save both latent fingerprint and latent palm print records on the RCMP AFIS database in Ottawa.
Training Courses
Over the course of his professional career he attended numerous courses and educational conferences both domestic and international.
Defense Expert
As a defense expert he has testified three times in Superior Court.
How he became an expert in fingerprints and palm prints
AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) has been at the core of his professional life. He began his career when AFIS technology was in its nascent state in Canada. He learned friction ridge science from the ground up, applying the “Henry System” to manually classify prints as well as using the classification systems required by the AFIS (Autoclass).
How he shared his knowledge and skills
Over his career he has mentored many people working in the industry and has received numerous awards. As an author, he has been jointly published in the International Association for Identification’s publication, the Journal of Forensic Identification and in Evidence Technology Magazine. He has also been published in the newsletters of the Canadian Identification Society, the Michigan-Ontario Identification Association, and the New York State division of the International Association for Identification.
His ability to teach advanced friction ridge analysis and palm analysis courses at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer, Ontario is well known. He has also taught palm analysis and palm crease identification and at the Kent Police College in the United Kingdom. In addition to his in-class teaching, he has lectured throughout Ontario and the United States on various friction ridge analysis related topics at several conferences.
Training is something he continues to this day with IAI (International Association for Identification) certified courses, one of which has been shared with the University of the Cordilleras in the Philippines, and with the University of Cape Coast in Ghana.
CV
A comprehensive curriculum vitae is available upon request.