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Fingerprints
Fingerprints are an excellent piece of physical evidence when found at a crime scene. Unlike DNA, even identical twins do not have the same fingerprints.
When a suspect is arrested, his or her fingerprints are inked with fingerprinting ink. They are then rolled onto a fingerprint card where each finger has a specific box. This fingerprint card can be called a dactylogram.
Fingerprint Database
After finding a partial print at a crime scene, the fingerprint is put into a database called AFITAdvanced Fingerprint Identification Technology . This system, part of the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, stores and retrieves fingerprints of past offenders. Matches are not always found through AFIT but if a match is found in the system, someone makes sure the two prints match using a magnifying glass.
Read more at FBI: Next Generation Identification.
AFIT Key Facts
- National fingerprint and criminal history system
- Contains fingerprints, identification marks (such as tattoos, scars, etc.), weight, height, eye color, etc.
- Contains civil prints (such as people who serve in the military)
- Prints in database:
- 70 million criminal prints
- 34 million civil prints
- 73,000 known and suspected terrorists
Fingerprint Characteristics
Fingerprints contain both class and individual characteristics. The three different patterns of fingerprints are considered class characteristics because many people have the same types of fingerprints.
These characteristics can be linked back to a group of people, but not one specific person, place, or thing. The three types of fingerprints are arch, loop and whorl. Within each type of fingerprint there are different types of arches, loops, whorls.
Modern Fingerprint Practices
When a person is arrested, he or she can count on being fingerprinted. Those prints will not go into the system unless the person is found guilty of the charges.
Messy ink is no longer used when fingerprinting. Inkless methods are now used, such as live-scan sensory methods. You simply roll your fingers across a glass plate, and they are scanned into a computer.
