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80 AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS

instead maintain pointers to local agency storage systems for retrieval. SMT data
will be kept in a database system and also forwarded to an FBI database.
Both tenprint and latent cognizant databases are used for investigative pur-
poses. Since no paper fingerprint card exists, fingerprint images for each arrest
are archived on storage media. A similar scenario takes place for other types of
fingerprint submissions, e.g., civil applicant prints and inquiries. Many agencies
maintain a separate civil processing unit, which exclusively handles non-
criminal requests, many times an ink and roll tenprint card. Unlike criminal
processing, in which time is critical, civil processing does not operate on a 24
hours a day, 7 days a week schedule. Also, records arriving for civil processing
usually have a fee included to offset the cost to the local and state agencies and
the FBI.
Other criminal justice agencies, such as the corrections department, may use
the tenprint system to verify the identity of inmates. In this process, finger
images of an inmate along with the minutiae of the SID number are compared
against the AFIS database, and a bar code label that ties together the inmate
record and DNA sample information is produced.

4.2.2 THE LATENT PRINT PROCESS

In the latent print process (see Fig. 4.5 for an overview), latent print cases are
entered into the AFIS system at a central site or regional/remote site connected
1
to AFIS. The latent print may have been collected by a Crime Scene
Specialist (CSS) who has special training to recognize and capture latent print
images, or it may have been collected by a patrol officer who may be less skilled
and who may have less equipment. Or the print may have been collected by
another local agency and forwarded to the receiving agency for a search against
their database. The latent image is evaluated by a trained latent examiner, and
a determination is made as to whether the image is “of value,” i.e., whether the
image has enough identifiable characteristics to make a positive identification.
If the image is determined to be of value, a search of the AFIS database is
initiated.
The alphanumeric data related to the case is entered into the system. This
data includes the case number, originating agency, county or region to search,
crime type, the ID number of each latent print, and other information such as
sex, pattern type, race, and finger number. Defaults are built into the system to
provide a complete database search, known as the “cold search.”
The latent fingerprint is manually positioned under either a digital camera
or the scanner of a latent input workstation by a latent examiner, and the image

1 This is the typical process. Agency policies and procedures may be different.