Fingerprinting Law Enforcement And Crime Investigators

Police databases and offense reports have been improved by technology and have enhanced law enforcement organizations’ ability to function. One type of police database is a fingerprint databases that

Lee, H. (2001). Advances in Fingerprint Technology, Second Edition, 2nd Edition. Retrieved January 26, 2015, from Vital Source: http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781420041347

FBI is one of the important scientific generalist that includes extensive reference collection of files like National Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), National Motor Vehicles Certificate of Title file, etc to solve crime. Certification and accreditation are two important regulation processes that have been implementing in forensic science. During the process of investigation, FBI highly recommend not to send specimen if it takes more than 24 hrs. The Supreme Court of California in 1946 rules stated, “Finger prints are the strongest evidence to prove the identity of a person.”

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

Before 1999 it took about 3 months to be able to find a matching fingerprint, now it takes 24 hours or less because it is now computer ran which is just one of the many benefits of this database. IAFIS has three ways that is can be used and how it's helpful. First is the criminal history this database keeps is a wide range of fingerprints, photographs and information on people who work for the government. Next it provides positive fingerprint identification. Lastly it can provide identification just by punching in in somebody’s name, DOB, specific body markings (such as tattoos), and identification numbers. The only people who are allowed to use IAFIS though are people within in the FBI. This database is also operated by a section of the FBI called the Criminal Justice Information Service

The use of fingerprinting as a means of identification was born out of the need of law enforcement officials to have permanent records that could determine if a convict had been previously arrested or imprisoned. Before the advent of fingerprinting, law enforcement used a number of different methods to try to accomplish this. Ancient civilizations would tattoo or physically maim prisoners. In more recent times, daguerreotyping (that is, photographing) was used, but proved to be less than reliable, because people had the ability to dramatically alter their appearance (Skopitz). As a result, this method too, became obsolete with the discovery of fingerprinting, an absolutely infallible

Just like the license plate reader, civil societies are worried about the instant identification finger printing method employed by law enforcers in nabbing offenders. The gadget/ system which gives police an instant access to database for cross checking against the prints they have obtained from a suspect enables the officers to pick any data and history on the subject from name, date of birth, social security number any other details about the person. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FDLE, has employed the use of the new technology going by the name of FALCON to assist in the criminal identification process. The system is able to compare the partial and palm prints obtained from a crime scene to the fingerprints in the data bank. FALCON is also capable of pulling and

For example it has search capabilities, electronic image storage, and can exchange images of fingerprints and responses. The IAFIS is a home to fingerprints and criminal histories of 70 million subjects. Now, the IAFIS is maintained by the FBI or the Federal Bureau of Investigation. To be recorded into the system you could have employment background checks or firearm purchases that would cause you to be permanently recorded in the system. The person who is in charge of the IAFIS database is the Section Chief David Cuthbertson which is in the Programs Development Section. The FBI uses this database to find possible criminals if they find their fingerprints at a crime. They can run this information through the information and the IAFIS will pop up with information on that person. They can then use this information to their advantage and bring this person in for

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)

Fingerprints have been used as a means of identification around the world for as early as 300 B.C. in China, 702 A.D. in Japan and introduced in the United States in around 1902 (Fingerprint sourcebook). A document called the “The Volume of Crime Investigation-Burglary,” describing the use of handprints as evidence originated in China. Back then, fingerprints were also used to seal documents and assign authorship (fingerprint sourcebook).

Biometric identification has long been used by humans for thousands of years. This recognition relies on certain body characteristics such as voice, face and movement. Body identification was first implemented by Alphonse Bertillon, in the Paris Police department in the mid19th century, to identify criminal body measurements (Jain, Ross and Prabhakar 2004). Later, a discovery of the individuality of fingerprints, was a significant discovery. This progressed into Police officers “booking” criminals fingerprints for identification. From the earlier time of biometric techniques to today’s modern times, due to primarily the rapid development of technology, biometric research has focused on other biometric attributes.

The fingerprint expert for the first time looks at the suspect’s 10 fingerprints (the exemplar

Biometrics is used in many places and there is a bright future for them. Coca Cola has recently replaced time card system with hand scanning machines. Finger print scanners are being used in many states of the US. They have been used to trace social welfare fraud. An iris pattern identification system is being used in Cook County, Illinois to ensure that right people are released from jail. ATM machines have been installed with finger scanners to prevent theft and fraud in Indiana (Jain, 2005).