SICAR (Shoeprint Image Capture and Retrieval)
Definition
FBI and Foster and Freeman (UK) outsole design database used for class-characteristic database searches; referenced in US, UK, Australian, and Canadian forensic practice.
- Full name
- Shoeprint Image Capture and Retrieval
- Developers
- FBI and Foster and Freeman (UK)
- Content
- Outsole design database for class-characteristic searching
- Adoption
- Used in US, UK, Australian, and Canadian forensic practice
Common questions
What can SICAR tell an examiner that comparing two impressions side by side cannot?+
It searches a large reference library of known outsole tread patterns to narrow down the brand and model that produced a questioned impression, which is useful early in an investigation before any suspect shoe is available for direct physical comparison.
Does a SICAR match identify a specific shoe as the one that made the mark?+
No. It identifies class characteristics, meaning the make and model of outsole pattern shared by every shoe of that design, not the individual wear and damage features unique to one physical shoe. Individualisation still requires direct comparison against the actual suspect shoe.
Related terms
- Class Characteristics (Footwear)
- The manufactured outsole design features shared by all examples of a specific shoe model: tread pattern, size, shape, and logo placement.
- Dental Stone
- A gypsum-based casting material harder and finer than plaster of Paris. Preferred for forensic 3-D casts because it captures detail at the...
- ESLA (Electrostatic Dust-Print Lifter)
- A device that applies a high-voltage static field to a metallised film, attracting dust particles from a footwear impression on a hard...
- Perpendicular Camera Alignment
- The requirement that the camera lens be directly above the impression centre with the sensor plane parallel to the impression plane; prevents...
- R V. Mohan (1994) + White Burgess Langille Inman (2015)
- Canadian Supreme Court framework for forensic-expert admissibility: Mohan sets relevance + necessity + qualification + no exclusionary rule; White Burgess adds an...
- Randomly Acquired Characteristics (RACs)
- Post-manufacture features (cuts, gouges, embedded material, crack patterns) unique to a specific shoe sole or tyre; the highest-level individualising features in impression...
- Snow-Print Wax
- A spray wax applied in thin coats to snow impressions before casting to provide a thermal barrier, allowing Dental Stone casting without...
- Subclass Characteristics (Footwear)
- Features shared by a subset of shoes from the same mould or production batch; may mimic individual characteristics if not properly distinguished.
- SWGTREAD
- Scientific Working Group for Shoeprint and Tire Tread Evidence; US body that developed the dominant guidelines for footwear and tyre-mark examination, class-subclass-individual...
- Tracking Evidence (TE) Database
- FBI database of tyre tread design patterns, used for class-characteristic identification in tyre-mark cases; accessible to partner agencies internationally.
- Treadmate
- RCMP database of outsole designs for footwear comparison, used by Canadian forensic laboratories and accessible to partner agencies.