Page 150 - Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)

CURRENT ISSUES 135

their DNA did not match the evidence from the crime scene. Some believe that
DNA will replace fingerprints as the most important identification medium.
Will it? To answer that question, consider the steps in DNA sample collection
and processing, and then make a comparison with that for fingerprints.
DNA is contained in hair, sweat, and nasal mucus as well as the fluids con-
tained in a latent fingerprint. The frequency with which this evidence is recov-
ered, under current practices, however, is too rare. For crimes in which bodily
fluids are left behind as evidence, e.g., rape, the collection of a DNA specimen
occurs at a hospital or other medical site that has the facilities to collect and
preserve the specimen. This evidence, if not immediately identified, may
become part of the unsolved DNA database of cases that have resulted in no
match, waiting for a match to be made at a later date.
DNA samples collected from a group of individuals, such as convicted felons,
can be sent to a state or private laboratory where they are searched against the
DNA evidence from crimes already on file. While DNA is collected from inmates
at a corrections reception center, not every police agency has the equipment
and training to collect possible DNA evidence from a crime scene. Latent fin-
gerprints, by contrast, are relatively easy to locate and collect. Also, not every
community is prepared to commit the financial resources necessary to equip
staff and maintain a lab with expensive equipment and highly trained and spe-
cialized personnel.
DNA analysis is subject to the same potential for misidentification and
missed identification that exists in any process involving human intervention.
Mistakes can be made in processing, recording information, transposing
figures, or any of a number of different instances in which people become part
of the process. Likewise, DNA testing equipment has to be regularly tested and
calibrated to ensure that it still meets the same specifications as when it was
originally installed. Sample collection devices have to be free of foreign mate-
rial; chemicals used must remain pure and potent. Medical laboratories can
make mistakes that, if not corrected, can lead to tragic results. When they do
happen, a detailed review takes place in order to reduce the chances of that
type of error in the future. The goal is to ultimately eliminate those mistakes
altogether.
As of February 2004, there were 1,646,084 DNA profiles, consisting of 75,507
forensic profiles and 1,570,577 convicted offender profiles, stored on the
National DNA Index System (NDIS). By comparison, the FBI’s IAFIS holds over
46 million fingerprint records, with an annual submission of 12 million elec-
tronic prints and 4.5 million prints mailed on inked tenprint cards.
There is a wide difference of opinion regarding the collection and use of
DNA. Proponents for expanding its use argue that taking a DNA sample at
arrest is no different than taking fingerprints, a standard practice. Opponents