Personal Identification Reviewer

Personal Identification
Alphonse Bertillon - was a French criminologist and anthropologist who
created the first system of physical measurements, photography, and
record-keeping that police could use to identify recidivist criminals.

Ancient Babylon - fingerprints were used in clay tablets for business

transactions. 1000 - 2000 BC

Delta - 1. point on a ridge at or nearest to the point of divergence

of two typelines and
2. is located at or directly in front of the point of
divergence.

Dr. Henry P. DeForrest - he accomplished the first fingerprint file

established in the United States, and the first use of fingerprinting
by a U.S. government agency.

Anthropometry - the first system of personal identification.

Dr. Nehemiah Grew - in 1684, he was the first European to publish
Azizul Haque and Hem Chandra Bose(1897) - Two Indian fingerprint

friction ridge skin observations.

experts credited with primary development of the Henry System of

fingerprint classification (named after their supervisor,
Edward Richard Henry).

Bertillon System - a system of identification which focuses on the

meticulous measurement and recording of different parts and components
of the human body.

Edgeoscopy the study of the morphological characteristics of

friction ridges; shape or contour of the edges of friction ridges.

Edmond Locard - informally referred to as the Sherlock Holmes of France,

he developed the science of poroscopy, the study of fingerprint pores
and the impressions produced by these pores. He went on to write that
if 12 specific points were identical between two fingerprints, it would

Chiroscopy It is the examination and thorough study fo the palms of

the human hand as a point indentifying persons.

be sufficient for positive identification. This work led to the use of

fingerprints in identifying criminals being adopted over Bertillon's
earlier technique of anthropometry.

Core - 1. Approximate center of the pattern

2. It is placed upon or within the innermost sufficient recurve.

Fingerprint - is an impression of the friction ridge of all or any

part of the finger. Fingerprint ridges are formed during the third

Gilbert Thompson - He used his thumb print on a document to prevent

to fourth month of fetal development.

forgery. First known use of fingerprints in the U.S.

Fingerprint Classification Systems

John Evangelist Purkinje - anatomy professor at the University of

1. The Henry Classification System developed by Henry in the

late 1800s.
2. Icnofalangometric System the originalname of the system

Breslau, in 1823, he published his thesis discussing nine fingerprint

patterns but he made no mention of the value of fingerprints for
personal identification.

developed by Vucetichin 1891

3. Dactiloscopy the new name of the systemdeveloped by Vucetich.

Juan Vucetich - In 1892, two boys were brutally murdered in the

4. The Oloriz System of Classification developed by Oloriz.

village of Necochea, near Buenos Aires, Argentina. Initially,

Identakey developed in the 1930s by G. Tyler Mairs.

5. The American System of FingerprintClassification developed
by Parke in1903.
6. The Conley System. The Flack-ConleySystem developed in 1906
in New Jersey,an improved Conley System.
7. NCIC Fingerprint Classification System.

suspicion fell on a man named Velasquez, a suitor of the children's

mother, Francisca Rojas. Investigators found a bloody fingerprint at
the crime scene and contacted Juan Vucetich, who was developing a
system of fingerprint identification for police use. Vucetich compared
the fingerprints of Rojas and Velasquez with the bloody fingerprint.
Francisca Rojas had denied touching the bloody bodies, but the

Collins System a classification system forsingle

fingerprint matched one of hers. Confronted with the evidence, she

fingerprints

confessedthe first successful use of fingerprint identification in a

used in Scotland Yard inthe early 1900s.

murder investigation.

8. Jorgensen System a classification systemfor single

fingerprints
used in the early1900s.
9. Battley System a classification system forsingle
fingerprints used in the 1930s

Loop - 1. One or more ridges enter upon either side

2. Recurve
3. Touch or pass an imaginary line between delta and core
4. Pass out or tend to pass out upon the same side the ridges
entered.

examination of the soles and their significance in personal identification.

Three Loop Characteristics
1. A sufficient recurve

Ridgeology describes the individualization process of any area of

2. A Delta

friction skin using allavailable detail.

3. A ridge count across a looping ridge

Ridge Characteristics
Marcelo Malpighi - in 1686, an anatomy professor at the University of
Bologna, noted fingerprint ridges, spirals and loops in his treatise.
A layer of skin was named after him; "Malpighi" layer, which is
approximately 1.8mm thick.

1. Ridge Dots - An isolated ridge unit whose length approximates

its width in size.
2. Bifurcations - The point at which one friction ridge divides
into two friction ridges.
3. Trifurcations - The point at which one friction ridge divides

Mark Twain - author of the novel Pudd'nhead Wilson where one of the
characters has a hobby of collecting fingerprints.

into three friction ridges.

4. Ending Ridge - A single friction ridge that terminates within
the friction ridge structure.

Paul-Jean Coulier - of Val-de-Grce in Paris, published his observations

5. Ridge Crossing - A point where two ridge units intersect.

that (latent) fingerprints can be developed on paper by iodine fuming,

6. Enclosures (Lakes) - A single friction ridge that bifurcates and

explaining how to preserve (fix) such developed impressions and

rejoins after a short course and continues as a single friction

mentioning the potential for identifying suspects' fingerprints by

ridge.

use of a magnifying glass.

7. Short Ridges (Islands) - Friction ridges of varying lengths.

8. Spurs (Hooks) - A bifurcation with one short ridge branching off

Poroscopy refers to the examination of the shape,size and

arrangement of the small opening on friction ridge through which body
fluids are secreted or released.

Podoscopy a term coined by Wilder and Wentwrth which refers to the

a longer ridge.
9. Bridges - A connecting friction ridge between parallel running
ridges, generally right angles.

Sir Edward Richard Henry - he was appointed Inspector-General of Police

of Bengal, India in 1891, he developed a system of fingerprint

in China to sign documents.

classification enabling fingerprint records to be organised and searched

with relative ease.

610-907 A.D. - During the Tang Dynasty, a time when imperial

China was one of the most powerful and wealthy regions of the

Sir Francis Galton - He devised a method of classifying fingerprints

world, fingerprints are reportedly used on official documents.

that proved useful in forensic science. He pointed out that there were
specific types of fingerprint patterns. He described and classified

1st Century A.D. - A petroglyph located on a cliff face in

them into eight broad categories: 1: plain arch, 2: tented arch,

Nova Scotia depicts a hand with exaggerated ridges and finger

3: simple loop, 4: central pocket loop, 5: double loop,

whorls, presumably left by the Mi'kmaq people.

6: lateral pocket loop, 7: plain whorl, and 8: accidental

14th Century A.D. - Many official government documents in
Sir Henry Faulds - his first paper on the subject of fingerprint

Persia have fingerprint impressions. One government physician

was published in the scientific journal Nature in 1880. Examining his

makes the observation that no two fingerprints were an exact

own fingertips and those of friends, he became convinced that the

match.

pattern of ridges was unique to each individual.

1686 - At the University of Bologna in Italy, a professor
Sir William James Herschel - was a British officer in India who used

of anatomy named Marcello Malpighi notes the common

fingerprints for identification on contracts.

characteristics of spirals, loops and ridges in fingerprints,

using the newly invented microscope for his studies. In time,

Time Line - Fingerprints

a 1.88mm thick layer of skin, the Malpighi layer, was named

after him. Although Malpighi was likely the first to document

1000-2000 B.C. - Fingerprints were used on clay tablets for

types of fingerprints, the value of fingerprints as

business transactions in ancient Babylon.

identification tools was never mentioned in his writings.

3rd Century B.C. - Thumbprints begin to be used on clay seals

1823 - A thesis is published by Johannes Evengelista Purkinje,

professor of anatomy with the University of Breslau, Prussia.

as a means of personal identification, and the use of printers

The thesis details a full nine different fingerprint patterns.

ink as a method for obtaining such fingerprints. Faulds had

Still, like Malpighi, no mention is made of fingerprints as

begun his study of what he called skin-furrows during the

an individual identification method.

1870s after looking at fingerprints on pieces of old clay

pottery. He is also credited with the first fingerprint

1858 - The Chief Magistrate of the Hooghly district in Jungipoor,

identification: a greasy print left by a laboratory worker on

India, Sir William Herschel, first used fingerprints to sign

a bottle of alcohol. Soon, Faulds began to recognize that the

contracts with native Indians. In July of 1858, a local

distinctive patterns on fingers held great promise as a means

businessman named Rajyadhar Konai put his hand print on the

of individual identification, and developed a classification

back of a contract at Herschels request. Herschel was not

system for recording these inked impressions. Also in 1880,

motivated by the need to prove personal identity; rather, his

Faulds sent a description of his fingerprint classification

motivation was to simply frighten (Konai) out of all thought

system to Sir Charles Darwin. Darwin, aging and in poor health,

of repudiating his signature. As the locals felt more bound to

declined to assist Dr. Faulds in the further study of

a contract through this personal contact than if it was just

fingerprints, but forwarded the information on to his cousin,

signed, as did the ancient Babylonians and Chinese, Herschel

British scientist Sir Francis Galton.

adopted the practice permanently. Later, only the prints of the

right index and middle fingers were required on contracts. In

1882 - Gilbert Thompson, employed by the U.S. Geological Survey

time, after viewing a number of fingerprints, Herschel noticed

in New Mexico, uses his own fingerprints on a document to guard

that no two prints were exactly alike, and he observed that

against forgery. This event is the first known use of

even in widespread use, the fingerprints could be used for

fingerprints for identification in America.

personal identification purposes.

1883 - Life on the Mississippi, a novel by Mark Twain, tells

1880 - Dr. Henry Faulds, a British surgeon and Superintendent

the story of a murderer who is identified by the use of

of Tsukiji Hospital in Tokyo, published an article in the

fingerprints. His later book "Pudd'n Head Wilson includes a

Scientific Journal, "Nautre" (nature). He discussed fingerprints

courtroom drama involving fingerprint identification.

After investigators matched the crime scene print to that of

1888 - Sir Francis Galtons began his study of fingerprints

the accused, Rojas confessed. Vucetich eventually developed his

during the 1880s, primarily to develop a tool for determining

own system of classification, and published a book entitled

genetic history and hereditary traits. Through careful study of

Dactiloscopa Comparada ("Comparative Fingerprinting") in 1904,

the work of Faulds, which he learned of through his cousin Sir

detailing the Vucetich system, still the most used system in

Charles Darwin, as well as his examination of fingerprints

Latin America.

collected by Sir William Herschel, Galton became the first to

provide scientific evidence that no two fingerprints are

1896 - British official Sir Edward Richard Henry had been living

exactly the same, and that prints remain the same throughout

in Bengal, and was looking to use a system similar to that of

a persons lifetime. He calculated that the odds of finding

Herschels to eliminate problems within his jurisdiction. After

two identical fingerprints were 1 in 64 billion.

visiting Sir Francis Galton in England, Henry returned to Bengal

and instituted a fingerprinting program for all prisoners. By

1892 - Galtons book Fingerprints is published, the first of

July of 1896, Henry wrote in a report that the classification

its kind. In the book, Galton detailed the first classification

limitations had not yet been addressed. A short time later,

system for fingerprints; he identified three types

Henry developed a system of his own, which included 1,024

(loop, whorl, and arch) of characteristics for fingerprints

primary classifications. Within a year, the Governor General

(also known as minutia). These characteristics are to an extent

signed a resolution directing that fingerprinting was to be the

still in use today, often referred to as Galtons Details.

official method of identifying criminals in British India.

1892 - Juan Vucetich, an Argentine police official, had recently

1901 - Back in England and Wales, the success of the Henry

begun keeping the first fingerprint files based on Galtons

Fingerprint Classification System in India was creating a stir,

Details. History was made that year when Vucetich made the

and a committee was formed to review Scotland Yard's

first criminal fingerprint identification. A woman named Rojas

identification methods. Henry was then transferred to England,

had murdered her two sons, then cut her own throat to deflect

where he began training investigators to use the Henry

blame from herself. Rojas left a bloody print on a doorpost.

Classification System after founding Scotland Yard's Central

Fingerprint Bureau. Within a few years, the Henry Classification

System was in use around the world, and fingerprints had been

1905 - The U.S. Army gets on the fingerprinting bandwagon, and

established as the uniform system of identification for the

within three years was joined by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

future. The Henry Classification System is still in use today

In the ensuing 25 years, as more law enforcement agencies

in English speaking countries around the globe.

joined in using fingerprints as personal identification methods,

these agencies began sending copies of the fingerprint cards

1902 - Alphonse Bertillon, director of the Bureau of

to the recently established National Bureau of Criminal

Identification of the Paris Police, is responsible for the first

Investigation.

criminal identification of a fingerprint without a known suspect.

A print taken from the scene of a homicide was compared against

1911 - The first central storage location for fingerprints in

the criminal fingerprints already on file, and a match was made,

North America is established in Ottawa by Edward Foster of the

marking another milestone in law enforcement technology.

Dominion Police Force. The repository is maintained by the Royal

Meanwhile, the New York Civil Service Commission, spearheaded

Canadian Mounted Police, and while it originally held only 2000

by Dr. Henry P. DeForrest, institutes testing of the first

sets of fingerprints, today the number is over 2 million.

systematic use of fingerprints in the United States.

1924 - The U.S. Congress acts to establish the Identification

1903 - Fingerprinting technology comes into widespread use in

Division of the F.B.I. The National Bureau and Leavenworth are

the United States, as the New York Police Department, the New

consolidated to form the basis of the F.B.I. fingerprint repository.

York State Prison system and the Federal Bureau of Prisons begin

By 1946, the F.B.I. had processed 100 million fingerprint cards;

working with the new science.

that number doubles by 1971.

1904 - The St. Louis Police Department and the Leavenworth State

1990s - AFIS, or Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems,

Penitentiary in Kansas start utilizing fingerprinting, assisted

begin widespread use around the country. This computerized system

by a Sergeant from Scotland Yard who had been guarding the

of storing and cross-referencing criminal fingerprint records

British Display at the St. Louis Exposition.

would eventually become capable of searching millions of

fingerprint files in minutes, revolutionizing law enforcement

Types of Fingerprints

efforts.

1. Visible Prints
2. Latent Prints

1996 - As Americans become more concerned with the growing missing

3. Impressed Prints

and abducted children problem, and law enforcement groups urge

the fingerprinting of children for investigative purposes in

Visible Prints - also called patent prints and are left in

the event of a child becoming missing, Chris Migliaro founds

some medium, like blood, that reveals them to the naked eye

Fingerprint America in Albany, NY. The company provides a simple,

when blood, dirt, ink or grease on the finger come into

at-home fingerprinting and identification kit for parents,

contact with a smooth surface and leave a friction ridge

maintaining the familys privacy while protecting and educating

impression that is visible without development.

children about the dangers of abduction. By 2001, the company

distributes over 5 million Child ID Fingerprinting Kits around

Latent Prints - not apparent to the naked eye. They are

the world.

formed from the sweat from sebaceous glands on the body or

water, salt, amino acids and oils contained in sweat.

1999 - The FBI phases out the use of paper fingerprint cards with

They can be made sufficiently visible by dusting, fuming or

their new Integrated AFIS (IAFIS) site at Clarksburg, West Virginia.

chemical reagents.

IAFIS will starts with individual computerized fingerprint records

for approximately 33 million criminals, while the outdated paper

Impressed prints - also called plastic prints and are

cards for the civil files are kept at a facility in Fairmont,

indentations left in soft pliable surfaces, such as clay,

West Virginia.

wax, paint or another surface that will take the impression.

They are visible and can be viewed or photographed without

Typelines - 1. Two innermost ridges that start or go parallel

development.

2. Diverge and surround or tend to surround the pattern

area

Types of Patterns
1. Arch a. Plain Arch

b. Tented Arch

Central Pocket Loop - 1. Consists of at least one recurving

2. Loop a. Radial Loop

ridge or

b. Ulnar Loop

2. An obstruction at right angles to

3. Whorl a. Plain Whorl

the line of flow

b. Central Pocket Loop

3. With 2 delta's

c. Double Loop

4. Between which, when an imaginary

d. Accidental Whorl

line is drawn, no recurving ridge

Plain Arch - 1. Ridges enter upon one side

2. Make a rise or wave in the center

within the inner pattern area is

cut or touched.

3. Flow or tend to flow out upon the

opposite side.

Double Loop - 1. Consists of two separate loop formations

Tented Arch - Possesses an 1. Angle

2. Upthrust
3. Two of The Three basic

2. With two separate and distinct set of

shoulders and
3. Two delta's

characteristics of the loop

Ulnar loop - flow toward the little finger - ulna bone.
Radial Loop - flow toward the thumb - radius bone.

Accidental Whorl - 1. Consists of a combination of two

different types of patterns with the
exception of the plain arch

Plain Whorl - 1. Consists of one or more ridges which make

or tend to make a complete circuit

3. A pattern which possesses some of the

2. With 2 delta's

requirements for 2 or more different

3. Between which, when an imaginary line is

types or a pattern which conforms to

drawn, at least one recurving ridge within

the inner pattern area is cut or touched.

2. With 2 or more delta's or

none of the definitions.