Page 25 - Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)

10 AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS

normal search parameters. Perhaps the subject lied about his or her age, just
enough to miss on a name search or normal tenprint search before the intro-
duction of AFIS. Perhaps when arrested previously, the individual had not only
claimed another name, but another sex. The identification agency, which could
be miles away from the booking site, had no way of knowing why there was a
difference in the record: the subject could have given false information, or a
clerical error could have introduced incorrect information. The identification
agency might not be able to determine which name or sex is accurate, having
only the fingerprint images and biographical information on the card to
work from. If it could not make a match after several comparisons with records
already existing on file, the identification agency would assign a new SID
number and send a response to the inquiring agency indicating that the subject
had no criminal record known to the state, or presumably anywhere else. The
subject would now have more than one record on file with prints of the same
fingers taken at different times. The names on the two records might be dif-
ferent, the ages might be different, or the sex recorded might be different. The
subject might have had many records, each with a different name, or sex, or
age. The number of possible matches, however, may have helped to hide the
subject’s identity.
In addition to criminal history checks, the records from these identification
bureaus would be used for crime scene investigations. Detectives or latent print
examiners would be dispatched to crime scenes to look for clues. A broken
window pane might hold fingerprints of a burglar; a knife might contain fin-
gerprints of an assailant. If a latent fingerprint was found at a crime scene, it
would be lifted with dusting powder and brought back to the detective bureau.
The latent print examiner would inspect the print for image characteristics such
as a pattern, a delta, or the number of friction ridges between two points. If
there was enough image information to effect identification, i.e., if the print
was “of value,” it might be compared against records in the database. Before
AFIS, however, latent print searches were usually limited to suspect prints and
elimination prints. It was a slow, labor-intensive process undertaken by specially
trained examiners.

1.5 CURRENT IDENTIFICATION PRACTICES

AFIS not only automated identification, it forever changed how the process was
performed. Computer software replaced fingerprint classifiers, and data farms
replaced card files. AFIS systems allow the almost immediate identification of
a subject on local, state, and national databases. AFIS replaced a mature iden-
tification process that was labor intensive, expensive to maintain, dependent on
paper, and relatively slow; but system that worked.