Page 87 - Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)

72 AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS

accountable for the physical return of the card to the proper location. After a
successful apprenticeship, perhaps staff would be trained as fingerprint classi-
fiers, learning all the rules of the Henry or American System.
AFIS systems changed all of this. With AFIS, pattern recognition software, as
well as examiners, classifies images by one of four pattern types (whorl, arch,
right slant loop, left slant loop (See Figure 3.6)) instead of by the Henry or
American fingerprint classification rules. There are no secondary classifica-
tions; there are no complicated rules. AFIS coders can determine both the
pattern type and minutiae placement.
In addition, with AFIS systems, fingerprint cards may or may not physically
exist. If they do exist, they may be retained at an off-site facility. The images
from the electronic cards can be displayed on a screen or printed onto card
stock. AFIS examiners no longer have to wait for a physical tenprint card; the
card information is as near as a computer terminal connected to the AFIS. The
cards cannot be misfiled or subjected to deterioration due to the heat and
humidity found in an office building. The information can be virtually
retrieved, reviewed, and returned. There is no wasted paper and no file cabi-
nets that must be searched through taking up space. This is one of the major
advantages of AFIS. 9

9 For additional information on fingerprints, see the Onin web site, maintained by Ed German.
Located at http://www.onin.com, it is an authoritative source of fingerprint information. See also
the book by David R. Ashbaugh entitled Quantitative–Qualitative Friction Ridge Analysis.