Sir Francis Galtons Fingerprint System
Sir Francis Galton was born on February 16, 1822, in Sparkbroom, England. A Renaissance man, he is considered one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. Prior to getting involved in criminology, Galton studied finance, meteorology, psychology, and heredity at Birmingham, London, and Cambridge. He left school and traveled to Africa in the hope of studying geography. Galton reviewed Bertillon's anthropometric system, as well as dactylography, and supported fingerprinting as the superior...
Fingerprints
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Firearms and fingerprints Edward Hueske. p. cm. Essential of...
fingerprints and dna
The traditional approach to personal identification has been to examine an object for the presence of identifiable fingerprints, enhancing vague or partial prints as appropriate. With the advent of AFIS the next hurdle for the fingerprint examiner was to ensure that the fingerprints be of AFIS quality. This allows the fingerprints to be entered into an AFIS and searched against the database. If the fingerprints are deemed not to be of appropriate quality, the AFIS search cannot be made. This...
B
Bengal, India, Police Department 48-49 bodies, fingerprint development on 94-95 Boston, Massachusetts, Police Department 148-149 Bow Street Runners 29 Braille system 41 brands, of ammunition 108, 111, 111 Brass Catcher 81 Breslau, University of 40 Brownsville Riot 32 buckshot 80 Buenos Aires, Argentina 47-48 bullet bullet identification Victor Balthazard's work 32-33 Beltway sniper case 12 during Civil War 30 fibers embedded in 116, 116 Henry Goddard's work 29-30 individualization of xvii tool...
the theory of individual identification and the scientific method
The goal of all physical evidence examinations is to achieve individual identification, that is, to show that a fingerprint came from a particular individual or that a bullet was fired in a certain weapon. Being able to accomplish this requires an organized thought process and the execution of a logical series of tests. The scientific method is used in both of these processes. The scientific method involves a series of steps that ultimately lead to a conclusion. The steps associated with the...
Absence of Evidence Is Not Evidence of Absence
One of the most frequently contested subjects in court proceedings is the significance of not finding fingerprints on weapons, particularly firearms. Portrayals on television and in movies often suggest that fingerprints would have to be left on a gun or a knife if the person handled it. And defense attorneys, almost without exception, will use the absence of fingerprints on items to try to show that their client could not have committed the crime in question. Yet, it is a mistake to attach any...
Firearms And Fingerprints At The Crime Scene
Due to the demands of the crime laboratory, not all examiners actually go to the crime scene to collect evidence and carry out testing in the field. Those laboratories where examiners do serve the dual role of laboratory analyst and scene investigator typically limit the on-scene aspect to major cases. Otherwise, there simply would be no way to get all the requested work done back at the lab. Big city police departments, such as the NYPD and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, have...
Firearms And The Evidence They Provide
A firearm is a weapon that is capable of firing a projectile and using an explosive charge as a propellant. The broadest category of firearms includes two types handguns and long guns. Handguns are designed to Semiautomatic pistol Courtesy of the author Semiautomatic pistol Courtesy of the author be fired while held in the hand, and long guns are designed to be fired from the shoulder. Handguns include revolvers and pistols, examples of which appear in the accompanying photographs. Pistols are...
Reconstructing Shootings Using Firearmsrelated Evidence At The Scene
The reconstruction of a shooting incident is the ultimate challenge for the criminal investigator. This is arguably the most important aspect of the scene investigation. In most large police departments this will be a combined effort involving the firearms examiner, the crime scene investigator, and the lead detective. Typically the firearms examiner possesses expertise regarding firearms and ammunition components that neither the detective nor the crime scene investigator possesses. Likewise,...
The Lowtech Approach To Fingerprints
Latent print residue that is deposited on the surface of nonabsorbent materials generally stays there and is not absorbed into the surface. This is adsorption, rather than absorption. The properties of the residue are different from the surface properties. This constitutes the basis for creating color differences through the selective absorption of powders and dyes. Powders used for developing latent prints are of two general types carbon and powdered iron. Fingerprint powder in the form of...
Further Reading
Ashbaugh, David R. Quantitative Qualitative Friction Ridge Analysis An Introduction to Basic and Advanced Ridgeology. London CRC Press, 1999. This text gives the reader a basic introduction to fingerprint identification principles as well as discussing advanced techniques. Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners Web site. Available online. URL http www.afte.org. Accessed December 27, 2007. At this Web site members of the firearms community and the general public may access...
Firearms Examination Equipment
The specialized equipment used by firearms examiners includes microscopes, measuring tools, testing tools, and balances. These tools enable the examiner to carry out the various aspects of firearms examination and comparison. The need for proficiency with microscopes emphasizes the importance of examiners having an academic background in science. Other equipment, such as measuring and weighing devices, are also familiar items to anyone who has a science background. The firearms or tool marks...
fingerprints wHAT they ARE and how they are produced
A fingerprint can be defined as a replica of the friction ridges of the skin cast on a surface. Despite the name fingerprints, these friction ridges are also produced by the palms, the toes, and the soles of the feet. While there are a few exceptions among those who are physically impaired, everyone has the friction ridges that produce fingerprints. Friction ridge patterns are affected by genetics, but even twins with identical genes have different fingerprints. Since a print of one finger has...
the brownsville riot and cartridge case comparisons
In 1907 several U.S. Army infantry soldiers allegedly fired 150-200 shots from their army-issue rifles at various targets within the town of Brownsville, Texas. This was all supposed to have taken place within an approximately 10-minute period during the night. The facts were and continue to be very much in question. It was never confirmed that any of the accused soldiers actually fired a shot. What was significant about the incident is that it marked the first shooting episode in the United...
henry faulds and william herschel and the who was first controversy
As is frequently the case in the history of scientific developments, there were several individuals working independently of one another who played somewhat equal roles as early proponents of fingerprint technology. These situations result in some degree of controversy as to who should receive the credit. The pioneering work of Henry Faulds and William Herschel in fingerprint technology serves as an example of the controversy that often arises as to who was first. Henry Faulds is another...
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System
In the early days of fingerprinting law-enforcement agencies began booking fingerprints taken from individuals arrested for crimes so that the records would be readily available. They also began to maintain leftover latent prints so that they might be compared with existing and future additions to the fingerprint files. The first law-enforcement agencies to develop fingerprint collections were large ones, such as the NYPD, LAPD, and FBI. These agencies sponsored rigorous research into how best...
Ridge Characteristics
An examiner must be able not only to recognize what type of print a particular sample is or what category it fits into but also to identify, or match, at least 12 points. Fingerprint matching techniques can be placed into two categories minutiae based and correlation based. Minutiae-based techniques first find minutiae points and then map their relative placement on the finger. However, there are some difficulties when using this approach. It is difficult to extract the minutiae points...
chemistry and fingerprints
A variety of chemical reagents may be used to develop or enhance latent or partially visible prints. It is also possible to use various dyes or powders to make the prints visible to the unaided eye or to set the stage for producing fluorescence under certain wavelengths of light with lasers or forensic light sources. Because the chemical properties of latent fingerprints, if any, are unknown, the forensic fingerprint examiner must select the appropriate development method based on the...
johannes purkinje and the first attempt at fingerprint classification
Fingerprinting owes its prominence to certain icons whose research and discipline greatly advanced the field. These researchers took great time to study, take personal notes, and ultimately invent this new field but were never rewarded by seeing their work benefit anyone. Each one nonetheless contributed to advance the field. Johannes Evangelista Purkinje, also known as, Jan or John Purkinje, is one of these scientists who advanced the field of fingerprinting. He was born in 1787 in what was...
The Fingerprint Examiner At The Crime Scene
Without a doubt the fingerprint examiner has more than enough to do within the laboratory without having to seek more responsibilities outside the laboratory. Nonetheless, it is extremely desirable for the fingerprint examiner to be at the crime scene. This is because the fingerprint examiner is the only person capable of assessing a fingerprint's potential identification value. If present, the examiner can decide at the scene whether a fingerprint is worthy of enhancement or if on-scene...
alphonse bertillon and the transition to dactylography
Perhaps one of the most influential people when speaking of criminal identification, is Alphonse Bertillon. He was born in 1853 to a family with strong scientific traditions. His grandfather was a well-known naturalist and mathematician, and he was the son of a distinguished French physician and statistician. Ironically, Bertillon was a very poor student. He was expelled from several schools and dismissed from an apprenticeship. In 1879 he was able to land a menial job filing information cards...
Specialized Equipment For Shooting Reconstruction
The reconstruction of a shooting incident is the most challenging part of a firearms examiner's job. This is the culmination of all the scientific and criminal investigations relating to a particular incident wherein a theory for the shooting is postulated. Unless such a theory can be developed, the individual firearms examination results are often inadequate in and of themselves to explain the shooting circumstances to a jury in a criminal proceeding. Shooting reconstruction requires...
professor alexandre lacassagne a pioneer in bloodstain analysis
Alexandre Lacassagne 1844-1921 was a professor at the University of Lyons, France. He was the first scientist to study bullet markings and their relationship to specific weapons. In 1889 in France, Professor Lacassagne removed a bullet from a corpse. He noted that the rifling impressions on the bullet were from a weapon with seven lands and seven grooves. A number of possible suspects were rounded up and their weapons turned over to Professor Lacassagne for examination. Ultimately, the...
professor victor balthazard and bullet comparison IN FRANCE
The various other aspects of firearms identification were not really recognized for their potential value in solving crimes until the early 20th century. In 1913 Victor Balthazard, a professor at the Sorbonne, in Paris, published what was clearly a monumental paper on firearms identification Identification des Projectiles de Revolver en Plomb Nu in Volume 148 of Comptes Rendus de l'Acad mie des Sciences . In this article Balthazard discussed bullet comparison and also made reference to the fact...
The Contributions of Henry Goddard in London
One of the early pioneers in the field of criminal investigation, Henry Fielding 1707-54 , is credited with developing the Bow Street Runners in England, forerunners of modern detectives. Fielding is also well known as a novelist and playwright. One of the last of the Bow Street Runners, Henry Goddard 1800-83 , is recognized as one of the first individuals to recognize the potential of firearms evidence as an aid in identifying the criminals involved. In 1835 Goddard successfully identified a...
Firearms And Fingerprints In The Crime Lab
The roles of firearms and fingerprint examiners in the crime laboratory are numerous and varied. Firearms examiners are frequently called upon to do many things that do not fall under the traditional heading of firearms identification. Examples include serial number restoration with chemical etchants, gunshot residue analysis for barium nitrate, and shooting incident reconstruction. Similarly, fingerprint examiners must be proficient in specialized methods of photography, the application of...
Applying the Scientific Method
different aspects interior ballistics bullet behavior within the confines of the barrel , exterior ballistics bullet behavior upon exiting the barrel , and terminal ballistics bullet behavior upon impacting a target . Wound ballistics is a specialized area of terminal ballistics relating to the behavior of bullets striking human or animal targets. Tool mark examination, on the other hand, is limited to the determination of whether a tool mark was made by a particular tool. Tools commonly...
How To Become A Firearms Or Fingerprint Examiner
The basic educational requirements for firearms examiners and fingerprint examiners vary from agency to agency. College degrees, once the exception in these two fields, are rapidly becoming the norm. There are, however, still a few agencies that do not require a college degree for their firearms and fingerprint examiners. Most agencies that require college degrees as a part of the minimum qualifications do not have specific degree requirements. Once again, however, there is a trend toward...
Firearms Identification
The field of firearms identification is typically associated with tool mark identification. In reality much of firearms identification entails a specific area of tool mark identification. By definition, a tool mark results from the contact of one surface with another, the harder of which is the tool. Thus, in the case of a firearm and a bullet, the firearm is the tool that produces tool marks on the surface of the bullet as it moves through the barrel upon discharge of the firearm. Likewise,...
To Err Is Human
permanent, can result in other problems for the AFIS machine as it tries to compare fingerprints. In addition, electronic sensing adds noise that can distort fingerprint images. Anyone who has scanned images and then tried to print them or project them through a multimedia projector has experienced this phenomenon to one degree or another. Interestingly the AFIS was developed to use the same processes that the fingerprint examiner uses in manually comparing fingerprints, but FBI examiners...
Ironclad Alibi
lab testing can either support a defendant's explanation or rule it out. Lab results that are consistent with an individual's explanation of suspicious circumstances support the idea that he or she was telling the truth. Whether the defendants involved were actually telling the truth about what happened or just make a lucky guess is a different matter. Over the years the author has investigated several cases involving discharge of firearms in which lab results cleared defendants who were...
latent print examination and comparison
The goal of fingerprint examination is to achieve individual identification, that is, to establish that a fingerprint came from a particular individual. The scientific basis for latent print identification consists of the following two premises 1. The friction ridges formed during fetal development on the palmar surfaces of the hands and the plantar surfaces of the feet persist throughout the life of the individual except when damaged by scarring or disease. 2. No two areas of friction ridges...