U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation
	Washington, D. C. 20535 July 2, 2001

Dear Colleague,

The Scientific Working Group on Imaging Technologies (SWGIT) was created to provide leadership to the law enforcement community by developing guidelines for good practices for the use of imaging technologies within the criminal justice system. In this issue of Forensic Science Communications, we present one such document relating to those guidelines for your review.

This document, "Definitions and Guidelines for the Use of Imaging Technologies in the Criminal Justice System," was previously released as a draft in 1999 for public review and comment. Based on the resulting feedback, we revised the document and now present a final version.

This document represents the work of more than 30 photographers, scientists, instructors, and managers from more than two dozen federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as from the academic and research communities. The document represents the consensus opinion of this membership and should not be construed as the official policy of any one of the represented agencies.

A goal of the SWGIT is to engage the entire law enforcement imaging community in the development of these guidelines. Please review this document carefully and give us your feedback. Instructions are attached.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Richard W. Vorder Bruegge
Chair, SWGIT

On to Instructions for Submitting Comments and the Guidelines

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