Printing Decomps

7/30/2019 Printing Decomps

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/printing-decomps 1/6

The Print http://criminalistics.us/Articles/Officer.com/officer

of 6 12/14/12 7:55



Printing Decomps

Livescan and digital fingerprint systems streamline identifying the deceased

From the June 2006 Issue

By Ronnie Garrett

Officials in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, had a problem. A man's water-logged body had been located in a West Palm

Beach canal. Because it had been underwater for several days, the body had "degloved," meaning its epidermis had

sloughed off. Without this outer layer of skin, fingerprinting John Doe was next to impossible.

"One arm had been bitten off by an alligator, so we only had one hand to work with," recalls chief investigator HaroldRuslander of the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office. "The body was decomposed beyond recognition, so

there was no way of making a photo ID, and we didn't have any leads to even start looking for dental records."

But officials knew the fingerprints remained intact - they could see them. "We observed ridge detail, but when we tried

to ink and roll them, all we got was a big black smudge," he recalls.

Ruslander and Dawn Watkins, a crime scene investigator with the Palm Beach Gardens Sheriff's Office, were not about

to let a few obstacles stand in their way. The duo summoned CrossMatch Technologies of Palm Beach Gardens to assist


of 6 12/14/12 7:55



in making the ID. This manufacturer of livescan fingerprint systems supplied two experts and a 10-fingerprint digital

livescan system with a fingerprint ridge-enhancing silicone pad covering the platen to help fingerprint the one-armed

corpse.

"The body wasn't going to withstand very many roll attempts before it broke down - the pressure would cause the ridge

detail to collapse," recalls Robert Christensen, vice president of CrossMatch's Federal Business Development unit, who

helped Palm Beach Gardens' officials make a positive ID.

"With ink, this [identification] wouldn't have been possible," emphasizes the veteran fingerprint examiner with morethan 23 years experience. "Numerous rolls would have deteriorated the finger so badly that we would have never gotten

any prints."

With this case, Palm Beach Gardens' officials joined the ranks of a growing number of professionals using digital prints

to identify the deceased.

The limitations of ink

In many cases, human remains are available for examination soon after death. In these situations, fingerprint

identification is relatively simple, even when using the standard procedure of black printer's ink and postmortem

identification cards. When a body is burned, bloated or badly decomposed, however, this process becomes more

complicated, and a lot of times "the ink and card stock method just doesn't work," says Ruslander.

Inking corpses is different than rolling the fingerprints of a living person, he explains. With the living, an ink plate is

used when the examiner rolls the individual's fingers onto the card. However, examiners employ the spoon method to

obtain a corpse's prints. In this technique, the examiner uses a small flat plate, approximately 1½ inches by 1 ½ inches

in size, with a handle on it. First he spreads ink on it with a small roller, then rolls the spoon around the finger to apply

the ink. A second spoon with a piece of paper is then rolled around the finger to get the print on paper. This method

works fine - if the fingers are still flexible.

"The problem is the fingers are not always straight when you find them, and they are not always in the best shape," says

Christensen. "You would be re-inking, over-inking and under-inking, and running into every possible problem you can

imagine when rolling."

If a corpse's hands are very crippled due to rigor mortis or disease, such as arthritis, things become even more elaborate.

Here, examiners must forcibly break the rigor to straighten the fingers for inking. If fingerprinting still provesimpossible, examiners then perform what is referred to as a "cut down," otherwise known as "gloving." In this

technique, the examiner uses a scalpel to cut around the fingernail to the first crease then removes the skin from the

finger. This skin is left to air dry or may be set with a hardening solution. The examiner then places this skin over his

own gloved finger and rolls the fingerprint. "Gloving is very awkward, messy and difficult to do, if you don't know what

you're doing," says Christensen.

Further complicating matters, the colder temperatures (typically 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit) of the morgue make

fingerprint ink very viscous, impeding its flow. "We usually microwave it for 30 seconds or so to loosen it up enough to

get it on the plate," Ruslander says.

Why not digital capture?

"If we can livescan corpses, we streamline the process, do away with the cost of the ink, get rid of the fingerprint cards,

and eliminate the microwave and the cold temperature issue altogether."

Ruslander's team had never attempted to livescan a dead body's fingerprints before. In the past, Ruslander says

livescan's large platen hindered the process, especially when the corpse "wasn't being real cooperative."

"They might be in rigor already or going into it, depending on the stage," he explains. "So sometimes it's difficult to roll

their hand."


of 6 12/14/12 7:55



The smaller size of today's livescan systems, such as CrossMatch's Guardian, which is a 6-inch cube that weighs just 4

pounds, simplifies this process. Likewise, many manufacturers make handheld fingerprinting systems that capture the

image of a single fingerprint, such as NEC Solutions' field identification unit or Identix's IBIS system.

"A single digit reader might offer some utility," admits Ruslander, who notes at times it is necessary to disarticulate the

hand or remove the fingers to livescan prints. "Removing the hand allows us to better regulate the pressure when we roll

it onto a livescan platen," he explains.

Christensen agrees flat capture, single-digit systems provide a major benefit in that it isn't necessary to separate or breakthe fingers to retrieve a print. However, because the platen is smaller (approximately 1 inch by 1 inch), it can affect the

number of matches received from a query. "The resulting print is approximately 65 percent the surface area of a rolled

fingerprint," he explains.

Even with such limitations, the Snohomish County (Washington) Medical Examiner's (SCME) Office has used NEC's

800-ppi high-resolution field scanner with much success. The tool, approximately the size of a hockey puck, allows

capture of single-finger, forensic-quality images which are stored locally on a NEC Versa LitePad tablet PC equipped

with NEC Image Capture Software. The office uses this system to collect a right thumb and index print from all

decedents in the morgue and store the images with the electronic case file.

"Our ability to make identifications and the speed at which they are completed has been greatly enhanced with this

system," says Dr. Norman Thiersch, SCME medical examiner. "[Digital] fingerprint technology is often a veryexpedient, low-cost way to positively identify the deceased."

At a homicide scene or at the location where an unidentified body is found, officials can gather prints before a doctor

repositions the body, says SCME master investigator Dennis Trettel. He adds that the main idea behind the SCME's

purchase of the two NEC systems was to use the systems in the field at a mass disaster or homicide scene. "We scan in

the fingerprint at the scene, and if ID is in question, we e-mail the images to our identification unit from the field," he

says. "If there's not an immediate time issue, we don't submit the prints until we get back to the office to save our air

card time."

Since employing this system in May 2005, the SCME has collected 421 sets of digital prints. Of that number, 43

positive identifications were made from collected images that were compared with the 1.2 million-record Washington

State Patrol AFIS database via the Snohomish County Sheriff's Department's remote site. Snohomish County

identification specialists Mellanie Semler and Marcia Frantzen query this database, but if there's no match on file, thenTrettel contacts the FBI directly and e-mails the prints to them with a written request. He'll even contact military

databases if necessary. "We had the body of a vet who was decomp'd pretty good and we made a positive ID off our

digital image with fingerprints taken in 1964 when he was in Vietnam," he recalls.

Benefits of digital printing

When inking a print, examiners are never completely sure whether the print will be usable until they finish the process.

Livescan, however, makes it possible to see what you're doing right away, says Christensen.

"When you roll the finger onto the platen, you can see it in real time on a screen as you are doing it," he says. "If you

press too hard or not hard enough, don't roll wide enough or the finger needs some type of adjunct assistance (if it is too

dry or too wet), you receive instantaneous feedback."

In the case of a fingerprint capture system, such as NEC's, when a body is located, officials capture the prints with the

handheld device and load it on to the tablet PC. Officers enter demographic information such as where the body was

found, time and date, and case number of the incident. Once back at the office, officials load the images on the

department server and a latent examiner selects the images and submits them to various databases.

Fingerprints can be wirelessly transmitted to a variety of databases including NCIC, INS, AFIS, FBI and other local

databases. "You can do a pretty large broadcast to regional, national and international databases," Christensen notes.

"You try to go to local law enforcement databases first, hoping to find a record somewhere, and then move to the state


of 6 12/14/12 7:55



and federal ones."

The rapid feedback this process provides also is a plus, says Trettel. Snohomish County's system has reduced the time

frame from collection of fingerprint images to positive ID from days to hours by providing SCME with a scientific

means of positive identification. According to Trettel, the time from image collection to receiving a positive

identification averages 4 to 6 hours, but there are occasions where identification takes just 60 to 90 minutes.

"With the old way, we would roll the fingerprints, then physically take the card from our office to the ID Unit where

they would scan it in and run a comparison search," he says. "That process would take 24 to 36 hours, even longer if itwas the weekend."

"This is quick identification at a low cost," agrees Kelly Gallager, NEC director of marketing and business solutions.

"DNA and dental records require departments to bring in professionals to make the identification, which can be very

costly and time consuming. And, with DNA or dental records, you need a subject in mind in order to make one-to-one

comparisons. With the fingerprint, you don't have to know who the individual is because you can do one-to-many

searches against several databases."

While results of a fingerprint search will be known fairly quickly, true success hinges on the prints within the queried

database. Unless a subject worked in a profession, such as teaching, that collects prints during the hiring process, or was

arrested for a crime, his prints may not be in the database.

But even without a match, the query may help pare down the list of possibilities to allow for a DNA, medical or dental

records search. "In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, for instance, the fingerprint was just one identification method

used," says Christensen, who worked in the New Orleans DMORT after the storm. "You photograph, you do X-rays,

and you do dental plates. You capture multiple biometrics."

Building blocks to success

The key to capturing quality digital fingerprints is the condition of the fingerprint ridges. Care should be taken to ensure

the fingers are clean and dry before capture. "You want the hands to be washed and dried," Ruslander emphasizes.

"When a body is decomposing, you have an added slipperiness to the skin, but alcohol pads will clean that off so you

can get a nice roll without slipping."

Christensen recommends washing the digits with soap and water and drying thoroughly. If the hands are extremely dry,

he suggests using triple Lanolin Aloe Vera lotion, which doesn't saturate or over-penetrate the skin. "The last thing youwant to do is introduce oil, because when you put it on a finger and roll it against glass, it will want to slide," he

explains. "This is called a smear, and smeared prints are the largest cause of rejected fingerprints." With bloated fingers,

officials should dry them as best they can and use alcohol wipes to dry them further. Burn victims complicate the

livescan process because in these cases the fingerprint is typically burned away. To obtain a print, examiners must

remove the outer layer of skin and try to roll the inner layer.

The first two sections of the finger must be straight to obtain a decent print, Christensen adds. "If someone's fingers are

tightly clenched, you may need to break the finger to get it straight, which honestly is a lot easier than when

fingerprinting a living person with arthritis," he maintains.

In most cases, rigor must be broken, which Christensen describes as basically forcing the finger in the opposite direction

until it cracks. (See "Breaking rigor" on Page 25 for instructions on how to do this.)

In some cases, Ruslander says it may be feasible to remove the hand. "This allows you to have total control of the hand

while rolling a print," he says. Or, as Christensen points out, it may be preferable to remove each finger from the hand

one by one. "Then you don't have to worry about trying to rotate the ulna and radius bones," he explains. "You have to

go from fingernail to fingernail. To get that kind of rotation, you need full movement."

But many times and for many reasons, officials may be unwilling to deface the body. As Ruslander notes, keeping the

body intact is the way to go whenever possible. "You don't want to go cutting up bodies because citizens often feel it's a


of 6 12/14/12 7:55



little above and beyond." In these situations, it may still be possible to roll the print, though the process may be

inherently more difficult.

Finally, this is messy work and you're dealing with a dead body, so it's critical to keep the livescan or fingerprint capture

system clean. Just as living individuals deposit oils emitted from their pores on the platen, dead bodies, which lack

natural oils, leave deteriorated skin behind. "When we used the system, we had to make sure we cleaned it very well,"

Ruslander recalls, "because it had decomposing remains on it."

CrossMatch officials tried using alcohol pads to scrub the system but found it left streaks behind. They soon discoveredpacking tape to be a ready solution, says Christensen. The examiner simply applies the tape over the platen, then

quickly tears it off. "This pulls the contaminants right off," he says, noting CrossMatch also maintains cleanliness by

putting the system in what he describes as "a giant Ziploc bag" then cutting a slot in the bag where the fingerprint platen

is located.

While no one can predict the future, in the case of digitally printing the deceased, one thing is certain - there will be

more of it. For those agencies using livescan and fingerprint capture systems in this way, the benefits far outweigh the

costs. "It saves time, money and manpower," says Trettel. "We can make IDs on our own, with our own system and our

own ID unit."

As for Palm Beach Gardens, the next time officials have an "unidentified body problem," they now know how to solve

it. "We get quite a few decomps down this way," Ruslander says. But with digital fingerprinting, John Doe's identitymay no longer be in question.

Click the print to go BACK


of 6 12/14/12 7:55

Printing Decomps

Documents

Transcript of Printing Decomps