Page 145 - Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)

130 AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS

The capture speed of the 14 finger images can be improved so as to hasten the
process in civil applications. If a nail-to-nail roll of the ten fingers and subse-
quent plain impressions is to remain the “gold standard,” the process will have
to be made faster. Only then will the capture of 14 impressions meet the timing
requirements for civil applications such as US-VISIT.
Palm prints are now being taken as a part of the booking process on many
livescan machines (see Fig. 6.3). Many agencies only capture palm impressions
as part of a “major case file.” In such cases, the palm images are typically kept
with the crime folder, not with the corresponding fingerprint card, making it
virtually impossible to tell if a person had ever had a palm print taken because
it was never indexed with the fingerprint card. The increase in storage and
bandwidth in current generation AFIS systems allows these huge files to be
captured, compressed, and transmitted efficiently and inexpensively. The palm
prints can have great value in latent print applications.
The newer livescan machines also have the ability to capture mug shots, also
referred to as portraits. As with palm prints, standards exist for the capture,
compression, and transmission of these digital images. The standards also call

Figure 6.3
Livescan Capture of Palm