ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 6

Office Paper DeCopier
Trela Frost, B
Document analyst, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Laboratory Division, Questioned Documents Unit,

Dwyer, KT
Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office,

(Received 7 April 2000; accepted 5 June 2000)

Abstract

DeCopier Technologies, Inc., of Framingham, MA, has developed an office paper DeCopier that uses a thermo-chemical process to soften toner and loosen its bond with paper. The toner is then brushed away and the sheet dried. The result is a “clean” sheet of paper that is ready to be reused. DeCopier Technologies, Inc. reports that this process will not only work on documents prepared by a photocopy machine or laser printer, but on transparencies, facsimiles, and other documents with toner components/entries.

An experiment design was developed to demonstrate how the DeCopying process affects toner as well as other applications (i.e., ink, typewriting, rubber stamps, etc.) that are typically seen in documentary evidence. The results indicate that, although DeCopier Technologies' ability to successfully remove toner from paper is currently limited to relatively few types of toner, the technology does have the potential to not only do what it purports, but also to affect various other applications found on documentary evidence. The DeCopying process affected all the additional applications, except watermarks, but did not completely remove any of them. However, the toner was removed successfully from the specimens prepared on transparencies. The extent to which the various applications were effected varied.

Keywords:
forensic science, questioned documents, photocopy, DeCopier, photocopy technology, document security

Paper ID: JFS15015J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS15015J
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