Quality Assurance and Quality Control in Forensic Fingerprint Laboratories in Bahrain and Dubai: Comparative Study

The current study aims to compare the adoption of quality assurance and quality control standards in the forensic fingerprints laboratories (FFPL) in Bahrain and Dubai. Particularly, the study aims to: 1) identify the differences in the adoption of QA/QC (ISO/IEC 17025) in FFPL between Bahrain and Dubai; 2) to identify the advantages of adopting a specialized accreditation scheme such as ISO 17025 and ILAC; and 3) to identify the extent to which the accreditation by ISO 17025 and ILAC in forensic labs in Bahrain improve the QA practices. The researcher adopted the descriptive research method. A mixed-method approach was utilized by the researcher, where both quantitative and qualitative research instrument, i.e. a questionnaire and an in-depth interview, were employed to collect the data from the sample of the study which consisted of (68) employees from forensic fingerprint laboratories in Bahrain and UAE-Dubai (quantitative sample) and (2) interviewees representing highly authorized personnel in the two countries (qualitative sample). The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The findings of the study demonstrated that there are statistically significant differences in quality management responsibility between FFPL in Bahrain and FFPL in Dubai, for the benefit of FFPL in Dubai. It indicated that although the forensic fingerprints both laboratories in Bahrain and Dubai have gained ISO 9001, however Dubai?s forensic fingerprints laboratories demonstrated a better performance in accordance with the quality assurance and quality control standards.