 Bertillon (1883) First system for identification
 Galton (1892) Published first textbook: Finger
Prints
 Henry (1897) Fingerprint system adopted by
Scotland Yard
 NY City Civil Service Commission (1901) used to certify all applications
 FBI (1924) combined prison records from
Leavenworth with their records to form the first national fingerprint “ database ” .

 Fingerprints show individual characteristics
 Fingerprints do not change over a lifetime
 Fingerprints have ridge patterns that can be easily classified

 Classified by ridge patterns or minutiae
 Ridge patterns must match in both characteristics and location on the finger
 No national standard but 8-16 ridge patterns are needed between a unknown and known fingerprint for there to be a match

 Friction ridges found on lips, fingers and palms of hands and soles of feet
 Outer layer of skin - epidermis
 Inner layer - dermis
 Junction between the two layers is - dermal papillae
 John Dillinger tried to obliterate his finger prints by making deep cuts and pouring sulfuric acid into the cuts. Within a few years the same friction ridge patterns returned with some scaring.
Post Mortem fingerprints taken by the FBI confirmed that his prints were unchanged.

 Raised lines or hills -
Ridges
 The valleys between the hills - Grooves
 Pores in between the ridges are openings for sweat glands
 Sweat and oils leave an impression on the surface - latent print

 Three Ridge Classes:
LOOPS - 60 to 65%
WHORLS - 30 to 35%
ARCHES - 5%
Percentage of the patterns found on the epidermis in the general population

 In order to distinguish between ulnar and radial loops you must:
 1) know from which hand the loop pattern comes from
2) place your hand palm side down over top of the impression and determine if the recurving ridges originate from the little finger side or the thumb side.
 3) If the ridges flow in from the little finger side this would be an 'ulnar' loop.
 4) If the ridges flow in from the thumb side this would be a 'radial' loop.

 All whorls have at least two deltas.
 A plain whorl has at least one ridge that makes a complete circle
 The ridge can be in the shape of a spiral or an oval.

 The Arch pattern is made up of ridges lying one above the other in a general arching formation.
 The tented arch pattern consists of at least one upthrusting ridge, which tends to bisect superior ridges at right angles, more or less.


 The individuality of a fingerprint is determined by a careful study of ridge characteristics
 Latent (invisible) fingerprints are produced when you touch a smooth surface and transfer an impression of your finger with sweat and oils

 Both hands could be expressed as a fraction.
 In 1901 – the original classification system used for fingerprints
 Problem was the system was designed was developed by a man named Henry. for only about 100,000 sets of prints.
 He converted all 10 fingers into a series of
 The number of people exceeded the system letters and numbers.
very quickly.

 By adding extensions and expanding the original Henry System, the FBI was able to create a limitless system for comparing fingerprints.
 This system provides the examiner with a more limited pool of candidates from which to examine for matches.

 System is based on the presence of whorls
 Whorls on first pair is 16 on second – 8, third pair -4, fourth
– 2 and last pair value of 1
 Any finger that has an arch or loop is assigned a 0.
 After all the fractions are added a value of 1/1 is added to the total for the final fraction
R Index R Ring L Thumb L Middle L Little 1
R thumb R Middle R Little L Index L Ring 1
16 0 0 0 0 1 = 17
0 8 0 0 0 1 8

 Ability of the computer to scan and digitally encode fingerprints
 The encoding allows minutiae to be rapidly scanned
 Can screen a set of 10 prints against a file of
500,000 sets of 10 prints in .08 seconds
 Ridge endings
(terminations)
 Branching of ridges
(bifurcations)
 Screen out imperfections in latent prints
 Can send prints immediately to FBI database

Locating fingerprints
 Three kinds of crime scene prints:
 Visible – can be seen without technology
 Latent – not visible without some technology
 Plastic – impressions made in soft materials such as soap, wax or putty
 Visible and plastic are easy to find but latent is more difficult
 Different surfaces require different visualizing methods
 Hard non-porous surfaces (glass, tile, painted wood) require visualizing powders or
Super glue

 Soft and porous surfaces
(cloth, paper, cardboard) require chemical treatment
 Can use RUVIS
(Reflected Ultraviolet
Imaging System) which locates prints on soft surfaces without the use of chemicals with UV light

 POWDERS:
 Adhere to perspiration and body oils
 Almost any color – grey and black being most common
 Grey – aluminum dust
 Black –carbon or charcol
 Magnetic – charged
 Fluorescent – glow under UV light
 FUMING:
 Iodine – iodine sublimates when heated giving off fumes.
 The fumes adhere to the latent print
 Old technology – does not last long print visible fades in minutes

 NINHYDRIN
 FUMING:  The chemical reacts with
 Super glue (Crazy glue) amino acids to produce can visualize a print on a purple-blue color non-porous surfaces as  Usually used as an 0.6 well as metals, tape,
% solution sprayed as leather and plastic bags an aerosol on porous
 Heating the Super glue surfaces releases cyanoacrylate  Takes 1 to 48 hours can ester fumes increase developing by
 Fumes produce a white heating in an oven fluffy print  Effective on paper that was 15 years old

 PHYSICAL
DEVELOPER
 Chemical mixture – silver nitrate based
 Works even if item was wet –then dried.
 Used as the “ last resort ” because washes away all traces of proteins
 NEWEST
TECHNOLOGY
Laser light can detect latent prints that fluoresce with certain components of sweat.
Alternate light sources:
High-intensity quartz halogen
Xenon-arc
LED ’ s (light emitting diodes)
DFO (1,8-diazafluoren9-one)
Chemical works with alternate light sources

 Once a print is developed it must be preserved as evidence
 STEP ONE: photograph developed print
 STEP TWO is determined by the size of the object the print is on
 If the object the print is on is small – the entire object should be taken to the laboratory
 If the object is too large then the developed print must be “ lifted ” .
 Can use special clear tape to lift a print developed with a powder
 Tape with print is placed on a card with good background contrast

 Digital imaging converts
 Lifted fingerprints a fingerprint image into pixels are not usually in perfect condition – making analysis even more difficult
 Can be done with a scanner or digital camera
 Digital imaging programs can now enhance the lifted/partial prints to make identification more accurate