Fingerprint Experts Research Articles

DACTYLOGRAPHY: The Scientific Study of Fingerprint

Fingerprint analysis has become important because of its reliability and scientific explanation in the courts. Fingerprint has three principles classification, uniqueness and identification. Now there are digital biometric scanner has the ability to access by fingerprint within a minute. This Automated Fingerprint Identification System has made easier to accessible. But the reliability would be little less than other ways to identify fingerprints. Because due to the malfunction of the scanner database can be manipulated or hacked by anyone to access the security. There are various types of fingerprints which needed to know for analyzing it. These types are 1. Patent Fingerprint(visible) 2. Latent Fingerprint(invisible) 3. Plastic/3d; to developing fingerprints there are different methods for different types of fingerprint. Fingerprint experts tend to develop fingerprint in crime scene for solving the crime. Whereas fingerprint become most important physical evidence in matter of solving crime. For developing to analyzing fingerprint expertise would be necessary for establishment. But there are various challenges for forensic experts which are distort prints, smudge prints, contaminated crime scene, database error, partial prints, etc. for the recording of the fingerprint on the wall also be challenging for experts which only can be recorded by photography. Henry classification system would be time consuming to evaluate the recorded fingerprints. Then there is chemical method to develop fingerprint due to the secretion of sweat, oil and other body fluids which make an invisible print. The outermost skin layers have various pores through where body fluid tend to secrets which is responsible for making fingerprints. To make it visible various chemical need to apply so that the secreted body fluid will react with chemical and its visibility will appear. There are some pattern types which tend to administer the individuality such as Arch, Loop and Whorl. Every pattern in itself is unique which can’t be match with any other person. Another way is ridge characteristics which is also valuable way to identify fingerprint. Because of its unique characteristics which tend to differ for every person and not only one characteristics but also 14 ridge characteristics are possible to identify through fingerprint. Porescopy and Edgescopy these are other ways to identify fingerprints but it is not practicable in India right now. There are basic two ways to develop latent fingerprints powder method and chemical methods. Through powder method, various powder and brushes will be need to develop fingerprints but it need to be know the surface where fingerprints are found. In chemical method there would be various chemical compound which needed to apply for the development of the latent fingerprints

How often do fingerprint examiners disagree in routine casework?

During routine casework, fingerprint examiners are required to make decisions pertaining to the sufficiency of friction ridge skin impressions. Prior experimental research has established that differences of opinion between examiners are expected, though it is uncertain if these findings are representative of the decisions made during casework. In this study, 5000 job-cards completed by fingerprint experts of the NSW Police Force were scrutinised to track the differences of opinion that occurred between examiners. Experts recorded 19,491 casework decisions, which resulted in 8964 reported identification and inconclusive determinations. Expert decision making was found to be unanimous in 94.8 % of these determinations; 4.6 % involved one expert-to-expert disagreement; and 0.5 % involved two expert-to-expert disagreements. Nil determinations featured more than two expert-to-expert disagreements. Expert-to-expert disagreements occurred in 3.7 % of all identification and inconclusive casework verification decisions. However, verifying experts were more likely to agree with a prior expert’s identification decision, than a prior expert’s inconclusive decision. The observed expert-to-expert identification disagreement rate was 2.0 %, whereas the observed expert-to-expert inconclusive disagreement rate was 12.5 %. Overall, most casework disagreements arose due to subjective differences concerning the suitability of friction ridge skin information for comparison or sufficiency for identification. Experts were more concordant in their decision-making with other experts than with trainees, and approximately three times more likely to disagree with a prior trainees’ identification or inconclusive decision than a prior experts’ identification or inconclusive decision. We assume these differences reflect trainees’ developing proficiencies in assessing the suitability or sufficiency of friction ridge skin impression information. Differences of opinion in casework are expected, which exposes the subjective nature of fingerprint decision-making. Computer-based quality metric and likelihood ratio tools should be considered for use in casework to guide examiner evaluations and mitigate examiner disagreements.

Forensic science in the Global South: addressing Brazilian fingerprint experts’ challenges

ABSTRACT Brazil is the world’s fifth largest country by land mass and seventh most populous. It presents a wide range of geographical and environmental differences in addition to heterogeneous resource availability, leading to major challenges in forensic science service provision. Here, we report the initial results from a survey of Brazilian fingerprint practitioners conducted in early 2023 to better comprehend the tools used for the recovery and detection of latent fingermarks, and to identify the main challenges facing Brazilian fingerprint practitioners in this regard. This will subsequently form the basis for the targeted development of sustainable latent fingermark protocols suitable for deployment in the Brazilian context.

The effect of fingerprint expertise on visual short-term memory

Expert fingerprint examiners demonstrate impressive feats of memory that may support their accuracy when making high-stakes identification decisions. Understanding the interplay between expertise and memory is therefore critical. Across two experiments, we tested fingerprint examiners and novices on their visual short-term memory for fingerprints. In Experiment 1, experts showed substantially higher memory performance compared to novices for fingerprints from their domain of expertise. In Experiment 2, we manipulated print distinctiveness and found that while both groups benefited from distinctive prints, experts still outperformed novices. This indicates that beyond stimulus qualities, expertise itself enhances short-term memory, likely through more effective organisational processing and sensitivity to meaningful patterns. Taken together, these findings shed light on the cognitive mechanisms that may explain fingerprint examiners’ superior memory performance within their domain of expertise. They further suggest that training to improve memory for diverse fingerprints could practically boost examiner performance. Given the high-stakes nature of forensic identification, characterising psychological processes like memory that potentially contribute to examiner accuracy has important theoretical and practical implications.

Forensic science capacity development: A case study of Timor-Leste

Forensic science is socially constructed within particular contexts, with notable challenges for countries of the Global South. This study explored forensic capacity development taking place under a bilateral agreement between the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia through the Timor-Leste Police Development Program. Data were collected through in-country site visits, observations, and interviews with key personnel from both countries. The findings indicate tangible developments, including the establishment of a forensic fingerprint laboratory, training in fingerprint expertise from crime scene to court, and engagement in innovative practices. These developments contribute to optimism amongst leaders and practitioners about the potential for forensic capacity. However, concerns exist about the precariousness of achievements, the need for continued training and development within and beyond the forensic team, untapped potential for inter-agency collaboration, and other human resource considerations. The findings suggest a need for organisational commitment and ongoing high-quality partnerships to maintain momentum and facilitate long-term sustainability.

The possible impact of stress on forensic decision-making: An exploratory study

Stress has been shown to have an impact on the quality of decisions made by professionals in a variety of domains. However, there is lack of research examining the impact of stress on forensic decision-making contexts, where experts can face various levels of stress. This exploratory study examines fingerprint decisions made under stress, by novices (N = 115) and fingerprint experts (N = 34). Findings suggested a potentially complex relationship between stress and expert performance. On the one hand, in this study stress seemed to improve the performance of both novices and experts on fingerprint assessments, but mainly for same-source evidence. In contrast, the induced stress appeared to have an impact on risk-taking. When the same-source prints were difficult, a trend emerged with stressed experts taking less risk and reported more inconclusive conclusions with higher confidence than the control group. Furthermore, stress had a significant impact on the overall confidence levels and response times of novices, but not experts. These findings suggest that stress and decision-making tasks are important factors that should be considered when considering optimal working environments for increasing decision quality.

Expanding the Efficacy of Fingermark Enhancement Using ToF-SIMS.

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) has been shown to enhance fingermark recovery compared to standard processes used by police forces, but there is no data to show how generally applicable the improvement is. Additionally, ToF-SIMS can be run in either positive or negative ion mode (or both), and there is no data on which mode of operation is most effective at revealing fingerprints. This study aims to fill these gaps by using ToF-SIMS to image fingerprints deposited on two common exhibit-type surfaces (polyethylene and stainless steel) using 10 donors and ageing fingerprints in either ambient, rainwater, or underground for 1 and 5 months. In all, 120 fingerprints were imaged using ToF-SIMS, and each was run in positive and negative modes. A fingerprint expert compared the fingerprint ridge detail produced by the standard process to the ToF-SIMS images. In over 50% of the samples, ToF-SIMS was shown to improve fingerprint ridge detail visualised by the respective standard process for all surfaces tested. In over 90% of the samples, the ridge detail produced by ToF-SIMS was equivalent to standard development across all different ageing and exposure conditions. The data shows that there is a benefit to running the ToF-SIMS in both positive and negative modes, even if no ridge detail was seen in one mode.

Finding the perfect match: Fingerprint expertise facilitates statistical learning and visual comparison decision-making.

Forensic feature-comparison examiners compare-or "match"-evidence samples (e.g., fingerprints) to provide judgments about the source of the evidence. Research demonstrates that examiners in select disciplines possess expertise in this task by outperforming novices-yet the psychological mechanisms underpinning this expertise are unclear. This article investigates one implicated mechanism: statistical learning, the ability to learn how often things occur in the environment. This ability is likely important in forensic decision-making as samples sharing rarer statistical information are more likely to come from the same source than those sharing more common information. We investigated 46 fingerprint examiners' and 52 novices' statistical learning of fingerprint categories and application of this knowledge in a source-likelihood judgment task. Participants completed four measures of their statistical learning (frequency discrimination judgments, bounded and unbounded frequency estimates, and source-likelihood judgments) before and after familiarization to the "ground-truth" category frequencies. Compared to novices, fingerprint examiners had superior domain-specific statistical learning across all measures-both before and after familiarization. This suggests that fingerprint expertise facilitates domain-specific statistical learning-something that has important theoretical and applied implications for the development of training programs and statistical databases in forensic science. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Dermatoglyphics: An Indicator of Dental Caries in Humans

Background: We all know that fingerprints are found in human and some animals and they are unique to allindividuals and remain unchanged over the life time. Today the study of the fingerprints has crossed its traditionalrealms and is being widely used as an adjunct in medical and dental fields to diagnose conditions with a suspectedgenetic base.Aim & Objective: 1. To record and evaluate the Dermatoglyphics pattern in subjects attending OPD of BuddhaInstitute of Dental Sciences & Hospital, Patna, Bihar. 2. To identify and compare the type of Dermatoglyphicspattern associated with dental caries. 3. To find association (if any) between different Dermatoglyphics patternsand Dental caries.Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in OPD of Buddha Institute of Dental Sciences& Hospital, Patna among simple random sample of 76 OPD Patient in the age group of 18-40 years after satisfyingthe inclusion & exclusion criteria. The data was collected using a proforma consisting of demographic details,oral hygiene practices, Sugar consumption, fingerprints format and WHO ORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT FORM(2013) was used to assess the Dentition status of the individual. Dermatoglyphic (Fingerprints) of the study subjectwere recorded using the Ink Method described by Cummin and Midlo & dermatoglyphic patterns were analyzedwith the help of a magnifying glass (10×) under guidance of fingerprint expert. Data were collected, compiled& tabulated using Microsoft excel & analyzed by Chi-square test & independent sample T test with p < 0.05 asstatistically significant.Result: Prevalence of dental caries was highest among subjects with whorl pattern (3.59±2.18) followed by Looppattern (2.73±1.56) whereas the subjects with Arch pattern shows lowest prevalence of dental caries (1.39±1.28) &this result came out to be statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusion: From this study it is clear that Dental caries susceptibility of an individual increases in the subjecthaving Whorl pattern & thus there is a definite correlation between fingerprint patterns and dental caries.

PECULIARITIES OF TRAINING AND ADVANCED TRAINING OF FINGERPRINT EXPERTS

The Article purpose is identification of shortcomings in training, retraining and advanced training of fingerprint experts as well as outline of scientific basis for improving this area of activity. The analysis of domestic scientists’ developments has made it possible to establish that in Ukraine there is no single unified regulatory legal act governing training, retraining and advanced training of a forensic expert, regardless of his institutional subordination. 
 It is proved that current regulatory legal framework for professional training of forensic experts, in particular fingerprint experts, of the system of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is at the stage of formation and development and requires further reformation. It is necessary to highlight the section: Procedure for specialists’ training and internship in the Regulations on the Central Expert Qualification Commission under the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and Certification of Forensic Experts, and to develop a separate regulatory legal act regarding the procedure for advanced training on its basis. 
 Particular attention is drawn to the absence of guidelines on the organization of the education process while forensic expert training, negatively affecting the process of learning during on-site training (in forensic science institutions). Expediency of the development of guidelines on forensic experts’ training for each individual expert specialization is established, which are suggested to be added as separate R&D topics to research work plan of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. It is indicated that a detailed study of the introduction of such a component as mentoring into the system of forensic experts’ training is essential.
 It is stressed that development of the regulatory legal framework for training forensic experts abroad in corresponding forensic science institutions, and the coordination of this area of activity by the Ministry will have a positive impact not only on the quality of training but also on the acquisition of world experience with the subsequent possibility of improving methods for conducting fingerprint analyses.

Battling to a draw: Defense expert rebuttal can neutralize prosecution fingerprint evidence

SummaryThe present study examined whether a defense rebuttal expert can effectively educate jurors on the risk that the prosecution's fingerprint expert made an error. Using a sample of 1716 jury‐eligible adults, we examined the impact of three types of rebuttal testimony in a mock trial: (a) a methodological rebuttal explaining the general risk of error in the fingerprint‐comparison process; (b) a new‐evidence rebuttal concluding the latent fingerprint recovered in this case was not suitable for use in a comparison; and (c) a new‐evidence rebuttal excluding the defendant as the source of the latent fingerprint. All three rebuttals significantly altered perceptions of the prosecution's fingerprint evidence, but new‐evidence rebuttals proved most effective. The effectiveness of the rebuttals depended, however, on whether jurors were more concerned about false acquittals or false convictions.

A method for measuring the quality of friction skin impression evidence: Method development and validation

The forensic fingerprint community has faced increasing criticism by scientific and legal commentators, challenging the validity and reliability of fingerprint evidence due to the lack of an empirical basis to assess the quality of the friction ridge impressions. This paper presents a method, developed as a stand-alone software application, DFIQI (“Defense Fingerprint Image Quality Index”), which measures the clarity of friction ridge features (locally) and evaluates the quality of impressions (globally) across three different scales: value, complexity, and difficulty. Performance was evaluated using a variety of datasets, including datasets designed to simulate casework and a dataset derived directly from casework under operational conditions. The results show performance characteristics that are consistent with experts’ subjective determinations. This method provides fingerprint experts: (1) a more rigorous approach by providing an empirical foundation to support their subjective determinations from the Analysis phase of the examination methodology, (2) a framework for organizations to establish transparent, measurable, and demonstrable criteria for Value determinations, (3) and a means of flagging impressions that are vulnerable to erroneous outcomes or inconsistency between experts (e.g., higher complexity and difficulty), and (4) a method for quantitatively summarizing the overall quality of impressions for ensuring representative distributions for samples used in research designs, proficiency testing and error rate testing, and other applications by forensic science stakeholders.

Synthesis and On-Field Testing of Novel Low-Cost Latent Fingerprint Development Powders

Background: A series of novel and low-cost powders were synthesised for the detection and extraction of the latent fingerprints deposited on various porous and non-porous surfaces. The template materials for these novel products range from silica nanoparticles to iron nanoparticles and activated charcoal. Preliminary lab testing indicated high quality fingerprints that were developed on various porous and non-porous surfaces such as glass slides, polymer plastic bags, aluminium foil, cardboard and paper. Results: The silica based nano-fingerprint powders gave extremely fine visual prints as compared to commercial SIRCHIE® powders, with a white pattern of the ridges. Activated charcoal based and iron nanoparticles based powders on the other hand yielded fine black fingerprint patterns similar to the commercial SIRCHIE® powders. These series of powders were subjected to on-field testing by utilising the state-of-art facility of the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Dubai Police. The samples were tested here under both lab conditions and virtual crime scenes, alongside the SIRCHIE® commercial powders already in standard use by the Dubai Police. The qualities of print developed were assessed based on the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) report and visual inspection by the senior fingerprint experts of the Dubai police. Conclusion: The study revealed distinct advantages of the novel synthesised products over the commercial powders. There was higher uniformity of the developed print patterns, higher score of AFIS analysis and advanced recovery of damaged fingerprints using the novel powders, which makes these novel products highly commercially viable.

The impact of evidence lineups on fingerprint expert decisions

SummaryForensic examiners routinely compare a crime‐relevant mark of unknown origin against a single suspect's sample, which may create an expectation that the two will match. We tested how embedding the suspect's sample among known‐innocent fillers (i.e., an evidence lineup) affects expert decision‐making. Experienced fingerprint examiners (N = 43) compared crime‐relevant marks against either individual suspect fingerprints (i.e., the standard procedure) or arrays of fingerprints (i.e., evidence lineups), with a matching fingerprint either present or absent. Evidence lineups promoted conservative decision‐making, as evidenced by fewer correct IDs and a higher rate of inconclusive judgments. Though errors were rare, evidence lineups also occasionally revealed errors that would have otherwise gone undetected. Our findings thus support arguments that evidence lineups can expose fraud, identify flawed methodologies, and curb overconfidence. The potential benefits and challenges of implementing evidence lineups in forensic laboratories are discussed.

Significance of Fingerprints in A Brutal Travel Bag Murder- A Case Report

Forensic Science can be defined as the application of science to law. On the crime scene, sometimes the odour of the evidence plays a vital role in the location and identification of the evidences. The present case is one of the best examples of this. Dubai police were informed about a bad smell emanating from an apartment in one locality. After an investigation, the investigators and the forensic expert discovered that the smell was from a decomposing human body. Immediately the fingerprints experts were called to the crime scene to collect, identify, and analyze all the fingerprints encountered. This case reflects the precision, accuracy, and reliability of the fingerprint expert and the technology used by them, including chemical methods like ninhydrin and cyanoacrylate along with the high efficacy of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. The case was uniquely solved with the aid of fingerprint analysis.

International Forensic Cooperation and Advocacy

The article discusses the interaction of lawyers involved in criminal defense and the international forensic community, the principles of international cooperation in the field of forensic examination. Information is provided on forensic aspects of the activities of the United Nations, the European Criminal Bar Association and a specific case of the participation of fingerprint experts from a range of countries in a unique case on protection of an innocent victim of an expert error is described. The importance of taking into account the cognitive bias of experts and other subjective factors, as well as the role of lawyers in assessing expert opinions, is noted. The main conclusions and recommendations on the interaction of the forensic and advocate communities in current conditions are presented.

What can glove impression evidence reveal about assailants? A pilot study

Impressions and marks are expected components of any crime scene. There is nothing more disappointing for fingerprint experts than finding glove marks at a crime scene. The forensic expert’s primary task in such cases is to compare the characteristic features of glove impressions with the characteristics of a suspect. The aim of the present study was to determine whether additional information could be obtained from glove prints. Specifically, whether they could be used to help to predict the sex and stature of a suspect was investigated, as was the potential for ascertaining additional information in cases where such prints were recovered from diverse objects with different diameters. Male and female participants wore latex gloves, and after ink was applied to the gloves they grasped objects of different diameters (2, 4, 6 and 8 cm). Impressions of gloved flat hands were also obtained. Phalangeal and finger lengths were measured digitally via software. Sex and stature were successfully estimated based on impressions derived from gloved flat hands and from prints on various grasped objects. A regression equation was developed for stature prediction, and a discriminant equation was developed for sex prediction.

A New Algorithm for Locating and Extracting Minutiae from Fingerprint Images

Fingerprints are considered as the oldest and most widely used in the world for biometric identification. Every person has unique and permanent fingerprints. Most automatic fingerprint recognition systems are based on features formed from lines known as minutiae. Building a database of unique minutiae is very important in the security systems because it concerns the identification of the person committing a crime through the latent left in the crime scene. This research presents a new algorithm to give a minutia a unique value leading to accelerating the search process for a person. The algorithm splits the fingerprint image into four sections, then calculates the values for each minutia in each section and stores it in a database that is designed for this purpose. This research provides a great opportunity and additional options to fingerprint experts in order to solve many cases that are still undiscovered while searching for the latent in the database of minutiae. The results of testing this algorithm were very successful, very encouraging and helpful to fingerprint experts in their work.

The Emergence of Perceptual Expertise with Fingerprints Over Time

Can early individual differences in performance predict later expertise in the applied domain of fingerprint identification? We tracked 24 new trainees over the course of a year as they accumulated experience working in a fingerprint unit. We tested their performance every three months on four measures of fingerprint expertise. Trainees significantly improved on all four measures, with the majority of learning occurring within the first three months. When we indexed trainees’ performance, by averaging across their percent correct scores on all four measures of expertise, we found early indexed performance was significantly and positively related to their indexed performance three, six, nine, and 12 months later. These findings provide a rich example of how perceptual expertise can emerge within an applied domain, and evidence that early individual differences on a composite measure of performance can be diagnostic of later expertise.

Expertise with unfamiliar objects is flexible to changes in task but not changes in class.

Perceptual expertise is notoriously specific and bound by familiarity; generalizing to novel or unfamiliar images, objects, identities, and categories often comes at some cost to performance. In forensic and security settings, however, examiners are faced with the task of discriminating unfamiliar images of unfamiliar objects within their general domain of expertise (e.g., fingerprints, faces, or firearms). The job of a fingerprint expert, for instance, is to decide whether two unfamiliar fingerprint images were left by the same unfamiliar finger (e.g., Smith’s left thumb), or two different unfamiliar fingers (e.g., Smith and Jones’s left thumb). Little is known about the limits of this kind of perceptual expertise. Here, we examine fingerprint experts’ and novices’ ability to distinguish fingerprints compared to inverted faces in two different tasks. Inverted face images serve as an ideal comparison because they vary naturally between and within identities, as do fingerprints, and people tend to be less accurate or more novice-like at distinguishing faces when they are presented in an inverted or unfamiliar orientation. In Experiment 1, fingerprint experts outperformed novices in locating categorical fingerprint outliers (i.e., a loop pattern in an array of whorls), but not inverted face outliers (i.e., an inverted male face in an array of inverted female faces). In Experiment 2, fingerprint experts were more accurate than novices at discriminating matching and mismatching fingerprints that were presented very briefly, but not so for inverted faces. Our data show that perceptual expertise with fingerprints can be flexible to changing task demands, but there can also be abrupt limits: fingerprint expertise did not generalize to an unfamiliar class of stimuli. We interpret these findings as evidence that perceptual expertise with unfamiliar objects is highly constrained by one’s experience.