Latent Print Identification Paper

During the research, there were a number of experiments conducted to determine the best approach to imaging latent fingerprints. These experiments were divided into phases and each phase served as a building block for the next phase.

Explain the principles and processes used in the analysis, comparison, evaluation, and verification of latent fingerprints. Latent prints are formed when the body’s natural oils and sweat on the skin are deposited onto another surface. Latent prints can be found on a variety of surface they are not readily visible and detection often requires the use of fingerprint powders, chemical reagents or alternate light sources. Generally speaking, the smoother and less porous a surface is, the greater the potential that any latent prints present can be found and developed. Investigators often perform cyanoacrylate processing, or fuming, of a surface before applying powders or dye stains. This process, typically performed on non-porous surfaces, involves exposing the object to cyanoacrylate vapors. The vapors will adhere to any prints present on the object allowing them to be viewed with oblique ambient light or a white light source. (Latent, n.d)

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

Fingerprint comparison has always interested me because of the uniqueness in friction ridge detail. As a fingerprint expert, you learn that there are no two individual in the world that have the same fingerprints. Individuals can share the same DNA but their fingerprints will always be different. Examiners may be able to find two fingerprints that have many of the same characteristics, but not exactly the same as in the case of the Madrid bombing. The basics of fingerprint comparison will always be the same. However, it fascinates me how procedures change, and make fingerprint comparison more of a science.

Exercise 2 Latent Print Development Introduction The purpose of this lab was to introduce the method of latent print development using fingerprint dusting powders and practice those techniques. When latent fingerprints are found at a crime scene, they are developed and documented by a crime scene technician and analyzed by a trained latent fingerprint examiner. Fingerprints can be classified into three general patterns: loops, whorls, and arches. Fingerprints are patterns of friction skin ridges which consist of veins, capillaries, and sweat glands.

In our current state, there are many classifications of fingerprints. A fingerprint is an individual characteristic because each finger has its own pattern. You will not find any fingers with the same pattern on them. During

Fingerprints can be taken from a crime scene in various methods. Fingerprints are classified into three categories depending on the surface they are found. Fingerprints on soft surfaces are most likely to be three-dimensional plastic prints such as soap, wax, wet paint, fresh caulk, etc. (“A Simplified Guide To Fingerprint Analysis”, n.d). The fingerprints on hard surfaces are patent or latent prints including blood, dirt, ink, paint, etc. transferred from a finger or thumb to a surface (“A Simplified Guide To Fingerprint Analysis”, n.d). Patent prints can be collected using photography. The prints are photographed in high resolution with a forensic measurement scale for the image for reference. There are multiple methods for discovering and collecting latent prints. Alternate Light Source (ALS) use

Word choice is perhaps one of the most important aspects of writing in the forensic science discipline. “Fingerprint examiners often argue that because friction ridge formation is induced by the stresses and strains experienced by the foetus in utero, which are random and infinite, it is likely that they subsequently produce a random, infinite variety of friction ridge patterns.” (Page, 2011). In the forensic science discipline, there are keywords that have to be known to have a professional and scientific style of writing the will be acceptable. A forensic scientist cannot write a report about the fingerprints of a subject and say that the has a unique pattern of bumps on their fingers. They have to use keywords such as friction ridge patterns, for their report to

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).

In order to become a latent examiner you have to have a Bachelor’s degree and four years of experience dealing with fingerprints (F, 2017). There are many duties of a latent print examiner such as at a crime scene or anywhere else they must be able to identify, collect, and preserve fingerprints correctly and handle all evidence with care. Also they should be able to put fingerprints inside of the automated fingerprint identification system and compare fingerprints. To be a latent print examiner you must have the ability to testify in court and have the capability to guarantee correct chain of custody all times; this was something I learned when I took the crime scene documentation class at the University of Southern Mississippi. You must have the ability to maneuver and operate on or with photographic equipment, gather fingerprints from the deceased, comprehend, interpret and clarify guidelines and policies governing the collecting and safe keeping of evidence, and also be able to work well with

In the forensic science field, laboratory tests are becoming more criticized in today 's world of technology. Human hair is one of the most common types of evidence found at a crime scene. Following hair analysis, there is also DNA fingerprinting analysis. Many victims of this flaw have been wrongfully sent to serve time for these flaws in testing. There have recently been more strategies to help improve these tests and provide for a better outcome in trial. Labs now have certain guidelines to follow while running tests, and at crime scenes, investigators are taking precautionary measures when collecting evidence to test. The forensic science field is one of the most powerful parts of the criminal justice system. They help separate the

“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, known for each person to have unique ones, are made of a series of ridges and furrows on the

Every time somebody touches something, they leave behind a unique signature that forever links them to that object. This link is their fingerprints, which are unique to every person, for no two people have the same set, not even family members or identical twins. Palms and toes also leave prints behind, but these are far less commonly found during crime scene investigations. Therefore, fingerprints provide an identification process that is applicable to background checks, biometric security, mass disaster identification, and most importantly, crime scene investigations. Fingerprints are so differentiated because they are made up of distinct patterns of ridges and furrows on the fingers. The ridges are the “raised” portions of the prints, and the furrows are the “recessed” portions. This perceived uniqueness has led some people to falsely accept fingerprint analysis as absolute scientific fact. Although overall fingerprints are reliable, there are definitely situations where their accuracy can come into question.

Fingerprints are formed during the first, third to fourth months of fetal development. While growing (in the womb) the fingerprint and the ridges will expand. A fingerprint stays the same from when