NCJ Number
77361
Journal
Journal of the Forensic Science Society Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 9-13
Date Published
1981
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper describes traditional and new fingerprint recovery methods used by British police, including the Automatic Fingerprint Recognition (AFR).
Abstract
In the past, the police have relied on the conventional reagents such as fingerprint powder for nonporous surfaces and iodine fuming, later replaced by ninhydrin. AFR is one of the most important areas of research currently in operational trial mode. It represents the computerization of fingerprint information viewed by television camera and recorded by digitization of the print characteristics in relation to each other. Since the mark found in the scene of crime is recorded with all the background interference from maybe a dirty surface, it is then altered by an expert who can realign ridge direction and mark obvious characteristics contained in the print. There is also a facility for the expert to cut down the area under review by concentrating the attention of the computer on the sure ridge and characteristic detail. This restricts the influence of background interference. Subsequently, the information is recorded and stored. The following day, the computer will have printed a list of responses from those criminal records in its data bank. With the advance of technology and computer systems such as AFR, the need for the continuance of research and development of new and improved techniques in fingermark recovery is even more important. The paper also discusses how the author as liaison officer to the Police Scientific Development Branch (PSDB) identifies problem areas connected with fingerprint casework.