Page 146 - Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)

CURRENT ISSUES 131

for a uniform background with 18% gray, three points of lighting, and a facial
aspect ratio (the size of the face in the field) of 55%. Mug shots have many
uses. They can be printed onto a warrant to give the arresting officer a quick
means of identifying the person. They can also, along with scar, mark, and
tattoo (SMT) information, be used to create a photo array of suspects in an
electronic lineup. This second biometric is used in addition to, not as a replace-
ment for, the primary biometric, the fingerprint.
A fast livescan machine, coupled with additional bandwidth and minutiae
storage, could replace applications that rely on names or other potentially false
instruments. With livescan, identification and personal history are based on fin-
gerprints, not on documents that can be forged or a name that can be altered.
Livescan could be used in military applications, for example. Portable livescan
machines could be used by trained soldiers to capture the finger images, palm
prints, and even mug shots of captured enemy soldiers. In the movie “Navy
Seals,” Lt. (jg) Dale Hawkins (played by Charlie Sheen) took a photograph of
a person he believed to be a non-combatant. He was asked by an intelligence
officer, “Why did you let this man go?” He replied, “I had a bus to catch.” If Lt.
Hawkins had had a portable livescan, or better yet, a portable AFIS containing
the prints of known offenders, he could have discovered that the alleged non-
combatant was a terrorist. It may have made the movie less interesting, but it
would have saved the lives of both service personnel and civilians. The stan-
dards and technology needed to make this happen are available now.

6.1.3.2 Interoperability
The political will that led to National Criminal History Improvement Program
(NCHIP) funding for AFIS as well as to IAFIS must continue in order to support
interoperability in forensic applications of AFIS, in both the criminal and
civil processes. Opportunities are lost and identifications are missed each day
because the AFIS systems cannot easily and directly communicate with each
other.

6.1.3.3 Searching Plain Impressions
In April 2004, the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the FBI
published the National Fingerprint-Based Applicant Check Study (N-FACS). Its
purpose was to determine the feasibility of searching IAFIS with plain (flat)
impressions instead of with rolled impressions, and to make recommendations
for enhancing the process. Among the findings and recommendations of the
study is the following: 1

1 See National Fingerprint-Based Applicant Check Study (N-FACS), IAFIS-DOC-07054-1.0; CJIS
Division, FBI.