U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

EQUIPMENT SYSTEMS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM - PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF APPLICATIONS OF THE COMPUTER-AIDED SPEAKER IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM

NCJ Number
32933
Author(s)
ANON
Date Published
1974
Length
63 pages
Annotation
A REPORT ON THE PRESENT AND FUTURE FORENSIC USES OF VOICE IDENTIFICATION TO ESTIMATE THE POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF A COMPUTER-AIDED SPEAKER IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.
Abstract
WHILE THE USE OF VOICE SPECTROGRAMS (OR VOICEPRINTS) FOR SPEAKER IDENTIFICATION HAS CERTAIN DRAWBACKS, THE TECHNIQUE IS BEING USED CURRENTLY IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND IN COURTROOM CASES. THE REPORT PROVIDES ESTIMATES OF THE SCOPE OF THIS USE AND HOW THE USE IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE AS A CONSEQUENCE OF SUPPLEMENTING THE MANUAL EXAMINATION OF SPECTROGRAMS WITH THE COMPUTER-AIDED SYSTEM. THE RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION INDICATE THE PRINCIPAL CRITICISM OF MANUAL EXAMINATIONS IS THAT THEY ARE SUBJECTIVE AND LACK GENERAL SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT. THE COMPUTER-AIDED APPROACH, BEING MORE QUANTITATIVE IN NATURE AND SPECIFYING, IN A DIRECT WAY, THE POINTS OF COMPARISON BETWEEN SPEECH SAMPLES IS EXPECTED TO BE MORE LIKELY TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE BY THE SCIENTIFIC AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY. THIS ACCEPTANCE, COUPLED WITH INCREASED SPEED OF OPERATION FOR THE COMPUTER-AIDED SYSTEM, WOULD MAKE RECORDED SPEECH SAMPLES A VALUABLE SOURCE OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)