The Evolution of Fingerprinting

Amanda Hurtado, Katherine McGowan,

Blanca Muñoz

ANCIENT HISTORY OF FINGERPRINTING

2000 BC Fingerprints were used for business

transactions in Babylon.

221-206 BC

China had records about using hand prints as evidence during

investigation.

221 BC- 220 AD

Fingerprints were used on clay seals to “sign” documents.

14th Century

Official government documents contained fingerprint impressions.

NEHEMIAH GREW/ MARCELLO MALPIGHI

English botanist, physician and microscopist

1684: Published Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London vol. 14, pp. 566-567 (1684).

First person to study and describe ridges, furrows, and pores on hand and foot surfaces.

Italian physiologist

1687: Published Concerning the External Tactile Organs

Noted that ridged skin increases friction between an object and the skin’s surface which enhances traction for walking and grasping

friction ridge skin observations

ANDREAS MAYER

1788 – German anatomist Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer is the first to write that friction ridge skin is unique.

Book: Anatomical Copper-plates with Appropriate Explanations,

Mayer wrote, “Although the arrangement of skin ridges is never duplicated in two persons, nevertheless the similarities are closer among some individuals. In others the differences are marked, yet in spite of their peculiarities of arrangement all have a certain likeness”

JOHANNES E. PURKINJE 1823

Evangelist published article on nine fingerprint patterns 1832

Did not receive credit due to not applying his method to anything useful (although others did piggy-back on his ideas)

Was known mostly for studying cells

PATTERNS OF FINGERPRINTS

WILLIAM HERSCHEL 1858

After Indian Mutiny of 1858, became member of Indian Civil Service

Contract with fickle employer made him put handprint on contract

Used prints on family prints did not change over time

Published worked in England’s “Nature” magazine that prints are consistent

HENRY FAULDS (1880)

British surgeon and Superintendent of Tsukiji Hospital in Tokyo.

Wrote an article that discussed fingerprints as a means of identification.

Began to study “skin-furrows”.

Developed a classification system for recording impressions.

He is credited with the first fingerprint identification.

GILBERT THOMPSON 1882

First (known) use of fingerprints for legal purposes in the US

Engineer working for US Geological Survey working on railroads in Mexico 1882

Pressed thumb print on “chit wages” to prevent forgeries

(caught a “lying Bob” and

made him pay $75)

ALPHONSE BERTILLION

Alphonse Bertillon, a Clerk in the Prefecture of Police of at Paris, France

System of classification: Anthropometry- First method of classification also known as the Bertillon System

This method laid ground work for acceptance of fingerprints as scientific method.

FRANCES GALTON 1888

Studied prints to see patterns in prints and genealogy

Did calculations on statistics of fingerprint similarities

Identified characteristics of fingerprints in his article “Fingerprints” 1892

JUAN VUCETICH (1892)

Statistician at the Central Police Department in La Plata, Argentina. He was later promoted to Anthropometric Identification.

Kept the first fingerprint files based on Galton’s details.

Made the first criminal fingerprint identification

SIR EDWARD RICHARD HENRY (1896)

Inspector General of Police for the Lower Provinces in Bengal.

Went before an inquiry committee to convince them to change to fingerprinting criminals instead of using the Bertillon Method.

Published the book The Classification and Use of Fingerprints.

FINGERPRINTS IN CRIME

William West Case (1903)

Rojas Case (1892)

FINGERPRINTS IN POP CULTURE

Mark Twain’s Life of the Mississippi 1883 used fingerprint ID to catch the antagonist.

Alfred Hitchcock used fingerprints in M is for Murder by having one character trick another into leaving a visible print on a letter

Adventure of the Norwood Builder, a Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used fingerprints as a significant clue at a turning point in the novel. Ballistics and tool marks were also brought to the public in his series

EDMOND LOCARD

Developed the science of poroscopy, the study of fingerprint pores and the impressions produced by these pores.

Established the first rules of the minimum number of minutiae necessary for identification

He said that if 12 specific points were identical between two fingerprints, it would be sufficient for positive identification.

DAVID ASHBAUGH

Sergeant and forensic identification specialist in Canada. Specialized in ridgeology.

Noted fingerprint individuality

Remain unchanged except for scars

Patterns and details are unique; ridge patterns vary within

AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (AFIS)

Replace intensive processes of classifying, searching, and matching ten print cards used for personal identification

Database search for 10 pt. set of prints

1963 Special Agent Carl Voelker: FBI’s fingerprint identification process.

1975-1976: System called Finder was delivered to the FBI.

SUMMARY

China- Business Transactions

Bertillon’s Method

Fingerprint Cards

(AFIS) Computer Databases

WORK CITED Ashbaugh, David R. Ridgeology Modern Evaluative Friction Ridge Identification. Canada, 1999. eBook file.

Barnes, Jeffery G. "History." Fingerprint Source Book. Maryland, 2010. 3-18. PDF file.

Crime Scene Forensics. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.crimescene-forensics.com/ History_of_Fingerprints.html>

Ferguson, C. E., B. E. Turvey, and W. A. Petherick. "Edmond Locard." Forensic Science Central. Elsevier Academic, 2010. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://forensicsciencecentral.co.uk/edmondlocard.shtml>.

Fingerprint Evidence. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.finger-prints.com/>.

Gale, Thomson, ed. "Ashbaugh, David Robinson." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam™ Research, 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3448300042.html>.

Galton, Francis. Finger Prints. London: MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK, 1892. N. pag. Digital file.

Herschel, William J. The Origin of Finger-Printing. London: OXFORD UP, 1916. N. pag. eBook file.

Higgins, Peter, et al. "Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)." Fingerprint Source Book. By Kenneth R. Moses. Maryland, 2010. 3-33.PDF file.

History of Forensic Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://forensicpsych.umwblogs.org/research/criminaljustice/fingerprint-

analysis/>.

Reachinformation. Reach Information, 2009. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.healthcare.reachinformation.com/Nehemiah_Grew.aspx>.

The History of Fingerprints. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://onin.com/fp/ fphistory.html>.

QUESTIONS