Forensic Gait Analysis

Gait analysis refers to the systematic study of human movement during walking. In the forensic setting, gait analysis, or forensic gait comparison, involves assessing a suspect’s gait patterns and features and comparing them with gait evidence obtained from a crime scene for purposes of criminal or personal identification. In practice, this technique functions as a supportive contributor to the broader identification process rather than a standalone method, because the idea that an individual’s gait is uniquely identifiable has not yet been fully validated scientifically. The forensic gait analysis's general source or evidence comprises the series of footprints found at the crime scene and the closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) footage. Footprints are evidence found at the crime scene. Footprints can be recovered in the form of bare prints, shoeprints, and a series of imprints. Footprints can be encountered in several types of cases and crime scenes, such as house break-ins and theft, robbery, sexual assaults, hit and run, shoplifting, homicides, and kidnapping. The science of footprints and gait analysis is a part of an emerging sub-discipline of forensic science known as forensic podiatry. Forensic podiatry is "the application of podiatric knowledge and experience in forensic investigations. It shows the association of an individual with a scene of a crime, or to answer any other legal question concerned with the foot or footwear that requires knowledge of the functioning foot." The principles and knowledge of forensic podiatry help the investigating officers and crime scene investigators when they are involved with the foot, footwear, and/or gait-related evidence at the crime scene. This knowledge can further establish the suspect's physical or biological profile for individualization and identification.  Meanwhile, an investigating officer is always on the lookout for evidence linking the suspect to the crime scene. In recent times, gait analysis has emerged as an important parameter for personal identification in forensic examinations. The advent of CCTV cameras and other surveillance technologies has generated interest in forensic gait analysis and its possible use in human individualization. In 1839, in London, gait analysis was introduced in court in the case of Thomas Jackson; a witness identified him due to his bowed left leg and limp. However, for the very first time, the forensic gait analysis was used as a means of admissible evidence/scientific evidence in the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court, London, UK, in the case of R vs Saunders by the UK based forensic podiatrist, Dr. Haydn Kelly, although, the method of forensic gait analysis remains questionable as far as the reliability and accuracy are concerned. The topic discusses forensic gait analysis methods, factors affecting human gait, its forensic applications, and its accuracy, reliability, and admissibility in court.