NCJ Number
199636
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2003 Pages: 48,50,53
Date Published
March 2003
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article explains the features and importance of the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), as well as the value of automated identification system (AFIS) quality fingerprints that are maintained by or are accessible to local and State law enforcement agencies.
Abstract
No other agency has a biometric database for comparison as large as the FBI's IAFIS, which has 44.5 million records, and it provides an international standard for providing fingerprints electronically. Eight States still do not electronically submit standardized criminal fingerprints to the IAFIS, and many large agencies do not submit all AFIS quality fingerprints to an AFIS. Many smaller agencies do not have access to an AFIS or their own resources to compare fingerprints. Twenty States do not currently submit latent fingerprints electronically to the IAFIS. IAFIS has been receiving media attention recently because a latent fingerprint entered in IAFIS led to John Lee Malvo, one of the two suspects in the Washington area sniper case. The fingerprints were in IAFIS because Malvo had been previously arrested by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. After a criminal 10-print search is submitted electronically, the FBI guarantees a response within 2 hours. Fingerprints submitted to IAFIS are compared to the fingerprints of anyone who has been arrested in the United States since the mid- to late-1920's. One of the primary goals for IAFIS is to gain the participation of the remaining States in submitting fingerprints electronically. This should happen within the next year or so. Looking further into the future, more biometrics could be stored in a national database for comparison. A single inquiry into multiple databases could result in identifying similar mugshots, retinal scans, DNA samples, face shapes, and various other identifiers.