Latent prints: the evolution and application of fingerprint technologies in law enforcement - past, present, and future
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Authors
Faulkner, Ryan K.
Issue Date
2017
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Forensics
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to first gain a firm understanding of the evolution of fingerprinting and the importance of this evidence as it relates to other evidence gathered during a criminal investigation. The lasts two centuries have enjoyed an abundance of scientific breakthroughs in the areas of fingerprint collection, preservation, cataloging, and practical use in linking a previously unknown person to a known crime.
This study is designed first to outline the current capabilities that law enforcement has at its disposal when collecting, storing, and comparing fingerprints. It will provide a historical perspective as it pertains to latent fingerprint comparisons and how the technology of that era may have proven to be insufficient in its proper analysis.
Additionally, this paper will explore innovative techniques used to solve cold cases and offer proposed solutions for future uses of important fingerprinting technology with law enforcement applications. For example, advances in technology have allowed national databases to become more robust, thus allowing for the rapid reexamination of decades old cases that have gone cold. Many crime scenes have yielded high quality latent palm prints, but until recently, investigators had no palm prints on file to compare them to. In 2011, the Federal Bureau of Investigation made improvements to its existing Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) in the form of the current system, Next Generation Identification (NGI). This expansion will enable law enforcement to aggressively pursue cold cases, and at the same time, a new standard has been set for new fingerprinting techniques that will increase the solvability rate of current and future crimes.