Farrell C. Shiver was the first
Chairman of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Document
Examination (SWGDOC) Subcommittee on Standard Operating
Procedures and Terminology. The subcommittee was tasked
with developing standardized procedures for forensic document
examination. Initially, the subcommittee was primarily
responsible for developing standardized procedures for
forensic handwriting examination. Mr. Shiver also served on the Executive
Committee of SWGDOC.
The Scientific Working Group for
Forensic Document Examination was formed in 1997 under the
sponsorship of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to promote
standardization in procedures used for forensic document
examination in government laboratories.
Initial membership in SWGDOC included representative forensic
document examiners from the FBI, the
United States Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the
Internal Revenue Service, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, the U.S.
Navy Criminal Investigation Service, as well representatives of
the National Institute of Justice, and academia.
Membership was later expanded to include forensic document
examiners from various state, local, and private laboratories.
Today, SWGDOC continues to develop
standards for forensic document examination under the auspices
of the FBI and is a task group of the ASTM.