Introduction
The first time fingerprint comparison evidence was used in court against a defendant was in 1892 in Argentina [1]
For purposes of forensic identification in cases of law enforcement and other areas where human identification is needed, fingerprints have been widely acclaimed to be of an invaluable importance and has therefore seen a close to unanimous acceptance as the gold standard of forensic evidence where biometric identity is concerned. Recently however, as was rarely done in times past, the scientific foundations of fingerprint expert testimonies in court are beginning to be challenged [2]. There are some commentators who now query the scientific validity of forensic fingerprint identification. Reference has been made to
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These methods hopefully can be used to introduce some quantitative statistical measures to the fingerprint evidence.
Before going into comparing both proposed statistical approaches, it would seem appropriate to take a brief look at the ACE-V method of fingerprint evidence analysis in the next section, to highlight areas where these proposed methods have advantages over it.
2. A brief description of the ACE-V Method
In ACE-V, ‘A’ stands for Analysis, ‘C’ stands for Comparison, ‘E’ represents Evaluation and ‘V’ is for Verification. These are the various stages involved in the examination of fingerprint evidence by experts in the field before arriving at a conclusion on a set of prints which can be in any of these three conclusions viz: Exclusion, Individuation, or Inconclusive.
2.1 The Analysis stage
This stage begins when the fingerprint expert examines a latent print and first makes a decision as to whether it contains details that are sufficient quantitatively and qualitatively to exceed the ‘Value’ threshold standard. If in his estimation the print does exceed the quality and quantity Value standard, then he continues with the analysis.[1] According to [4], most of the prints recovered from crime scenes are considered of no value.
2.2 The Comparison stage.
The fingerprint expert for the first time looks at the suspect’s 10 fingerprints (the exemplar
During the research, there were a number of experiments conducted to determine the best approach to imaging latent fingerprints. These experiments were divided into phases and each phase served as a building block for the next phase.
forensic identification technique today1. It is the case of analyzing and profiling a DNA sample
scientific law enforcement in his creation of a mass fingerprint file in 1926 and the
For over a century fingerprints have been one of the most used tools of forensic science. Fingerprints have been used to identify criminals of small crimes
Center, National Forensic Science Technology. (2015, January 27). Principles of Fingerprint Analysis. Retrieved from Forensic Science Simplified: http://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/prints/principles.html
Word choice is perhaps one of the most important aspects of writing in the forensic science discipline. “Fingerprint examiners often argue that because friction ridge formation is induced by the stresses and strains experienced by the foetus in utero, which are random and infinite, it is likely that they subsequently produce a random, infinite variety of friction ridge patterns.” (Page, 2011). In the forensic science discipline, there are keywords that have to be known to have a professional and scientific style of writing the will be acceptable. A forensic scientist cannot write a report about the fingerprints of a subject and say that the has a unique pattern of bumps on their fingers. They have to use keywords such as friction ridge patterns, for their report to
Great pieces of architecture like The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy are important to Byzantine and Islamic Art. Both structures were not just places of worship, but showed the power of the men behind them and the growth of the culture at this time. San Vitale which was constructed under the Bishop Ecclesius around 540 to 548 A.D. and was erected to show the power and achievements of Emperor Justinian. The banker Julius Argenteus provided the funds for San Vitale, and it was dedicated to Bishop Maximian. The Dome of the Rock was built in Jerusalem by Caliph Abd al-Malik “to mark the triumph of Islam in Jerusalem on a site sacred to Muslims, Christians, and Jews”(Gardner and Kleiner B: 285). It is
A considerable reason why finger prints were brought into the criminal justice system is because too many criminals were wrongfully executed. So many people are imprisoned because the criminal justice system doesn’t thoroughly examine criminal cases. There are many cases where
Corruption in the Catholic Church was real; the Church has always had a strong present in Mexico since the beginnings. For instance, those in the strong circle of the Church who are not part of the clergy have always been men of power who hold swayed over the government. They have passed laws that benefit the Church, such as the example I pointed out before of Title 1. Precisely, for this reason, was why the Mexican liberals hated the clergy. The main problem and reason why the anti-clerical liberals wanted to remove the clergy in Government was “Fueros”, which means corporate immunities. For the Church, corporate immunities meant that if there was a transgression in the clerical power they were subjected to a different form of justice than the Mexican people. The Liberals saw it as the highest form a corruption because basically those part of the clergy circle who were men of power could get away with corruption. Laws like the example that was given were what ultimately what triggered the anti-clerical liberals to fight back, and that is why by 1861 when Benito Juarez re-established the Mexican government. Once Benito Juarez establishes the Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1857, the Catholic Church was slowly starting to lose the control it had over the Government.
The automated Fingerprint Identification System is also known as the AFIS within the law enforcement division (FBI, 2010). This system is an important element in the criminal justice system as some of its features encompass the storing of data, encoding, and fingerprint and facial comparison through graphics and other techniques. Law officials many centuries ago in the pursuit of positively identifying someone suspected of guilt have long used fingerprints techniques. Fingerprinting is also used in branches of our government, and in the Pentagon, the authentication method of fingerprints is used permit access to specified zones inside the building. Fingerprints are an effective and very precise method of identification purposes that does not pose
“Fingerprint recognition is one of the divorce inference using the impressions made by the minute ridge formations or patterns found on the fingertips. No two people have exactly the same arrangement of the ridge patterns, and the remaining patterns of any one individual unchanged. Fingerprints infallible provide a means of personal identification. Other personal characteristics may change, but not fingerprints”. (1)
I am currently a computer science major and plan on becoming a computer programmer. My love for technology including video games is unique along with my morals. Through the course we covered five moral philosophies which can fit into my life. There is not a perfect moral philosophy, which is why I will be taking bits and parts from the five different one to make one which fits my life style and morals. The five I will be dissecting are, Utilitarianism, Social Contract Theory, Kant, The Ethics of Care, and Virtue Ethics.
According to Jain Anil, fingerprint-based identification is the oldest method which has been successfully used in numerous applications and though Bertillon’s anthropometry raised many valid points in forensic science, it was discarded and replaced by the fingerprint identification method after Bertillon’s death 1914.
After Galton’s discovery, the use of fingerprinting by law enforcement was inevitable. In 1892, an Argentine police official, Juan Vucetich, became the first person to identify a criminal through fingerprints (The History of Fingerprints). The last major step necessary for the widespread use of fingerprint identification was to create a classification system that simplified the process of matching fingerprints. That came in 1901, when Edward Henry devised a system that separated fingerprints into four different categories - loops, whorls, arches, and composites (Skopitz). Shortly after its development, most European nations implemented this system of
Every time somebody touches something, they leave behind a unique signature that forever links them to that object. This link is their fingerprints, which are unique to every person, for no two people have the same set, not even family members or identical twins. Palms and toes also leave prints behind, but these are far less commonly found during crime scene investigations. Therefore, fingerprints provide an identification process that is applicable to background checks, biometric security, mass disaster identification, and most importantly, crime scene investigations. Fingerprints are so differentiated because they are made up of distinct patterns of ridges and furrows on the fingers. The ridges are the “raised” portions of the prints, and the furrows are the “recessed” portions. This perceived uniqueness has led some people to falsely accept fingerprint analysis as absolute scientific fact. Although overall fingerprints are reliable, there are definitely situations where their accuracy can come into question.