![]() ![]() Bertillon also pioneered the concept of arrest photos (mugshots) taken simultaneously with bodily measurements and fingerprints. These measurements were reduced to a formula that, in theory, would only apply to one person and would not alter over the course of his or her adult life. Around 1880, French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon devised a system to measure and record the dimensions of certain bony parts of the body. Photography lessened the burden on memory, but it was not the answer to the criminal identification problem because personal appearances change. Before the mid-1800s, law enforcement officers with extraordinary visual memories, so-called "camera eyes," identified previously arrested offenders by sight alone. Ancient Romans tattooed mercenary soldiers to help prevent desertion. The thief was sometimes deprived of the hand which committed the thievery. In earlier civilizations, branding or maiming (cutting off hands or noses) were used to mark persons as criminals. Barring injuries or surgery causing deep scarring, or diseases such as leprosy damaging the formative layers of friction ridge skin, finger and palm print features have never been shown to move about or change their unit relationship throughout the life of a person (and injuries, scarring, and diseases tend to exhibit telltale indicators of unnatural change). Other visible human characteristics, such as facial features, change considerably with age but fingerprints are relatively persistent. More fingerprint records are added to US Government (FBI and DHS) databases each year than have been added to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database in the past 20 years. not because fingerprints are better evidence than DNA, but because of the sheer volume of fingerprint records stored in government databases. Fingerprints solve more crime than DNA.Thus, while both fingerprints and DNA are typically harvested from serious crimes such as sexual assault and murder, at less serious crime scenes such as burglaries or vehicle break-ins, fingerprints are often the primary evidence collected and rapidly processed. For example, DNA is as common as fingerprints at many crime scenes, but can cost 100 to 400 times more than fingerprint analysis for each specimen, and often requires additional months before analysis is complete. Cost is an important factor because governments must balance forensic and investigative resources to best satisfy timeliness and thoroughness goals, without sacrificing accuracy. Is relatively inexpensive for solving crime.In most jurisdictions, fingerprints harvested from crime "scenes lead to more suspects and generate more evidence in court than all other forensic laboratory techniques combined." For more than a century, has remained the most widely used forensic evidence worldwide.Continues to expand as the primary method for accurately identifying persons in government record systems, with many thousands of persons added daily to fingerprint repositories worldwide.For over four decades, the IAI's certification program has been issuing certification to those meeting stringent criteria and revoking certification for errors (quality assurance problems) such as erroneous identifications. The fingerprint discipline has never claimed forensic fingerprint experts (latent print examiners) are infallible. Established the first professional certification program for forensic scientists, the IAI's Certified Latent Print Examiner (CLPE) program in 1977.Established the first forensic science professional organization, the International Association for Identification (IAI), in 1915.Fingerprints are the foundation for criminal history confirmation at police agencies worldwide. No two fingerprints have ever been found alike in many billions of human and automated computer comparisons. Has served worldwide governments for over a century by providing accurate identification of persons. ![]()
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