NCJ Number
199440
Journal
Innovation Exchange Issue: 10 Dated: Winter 2003 Pages: 54-55
Date Published
2003
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article describes a field kit for special fingerprinting techniques and a fingerprint comparison field kit used by Israel Police (IP).
Abstract
In recent years, the IP's forensic officers have been called upon to assist in the rapid and professional identification of victims in multi-casualty incidents, whether as the result of a terrorist attack, a road or air accident, or natural disaster. Forensic officers have often found victims' bodies so damaged by intense heat, blast, or prolonged immersion in water, that the traditional inkpad fingerprinting method has not been useful for victim identification. Through technical assistance provided by the United States' FBI, a portable incident kit has been developed that contains all the equipment and materials necessary for executing special fingerprinting techniques. In some multi-casualty incidents, the victims may have fingerprints already on file with some agency, as is the case with military personnel. In such a circumstance, it is practical to compare victim fingerprints with the fingerprints on file in order to make an identification. The IP has created a fingerprint comparison field kit that contains every item the forensic expert is likely to need to perform a comparison check in the field. This permits the same reliable and rapid fingerprint identification that is achieved in the laboratory.