LACSON COLLEGE

CRIMINALISTICS 1
PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION

NAME: DATE:
TEACHER:

INTRODUCTION

By looking at the tips of your finger, you will notice “hills and valleys” on it. These
markings are Your God- given personal identification which identify and separate you from the rest of
human kind.

The diversified ridges for personal identification imply knowledge of their (3) main characteristics;
variation, infallbility and constancy. Like an artis leaving his signature of his creation, God trade marked
man’s hands with an identifying mark which never before he was born nor after he dies will God
produce another set of fingerprints such as one possesses.

The holy bible is a very realible source in in tracing the early use of fingerprints. Apostle
paul in II Thessalonians 3:17 said “ with my own hand, I write this: greetings from paul. This is the way I
sign evey letters; this is how I write”. Many inferred that paul use his fingerprints as his signature.

BRIEF HISTORY OF FINGERPRINTS

CHINA

The Chinese are considered as the first users of fingerprints which they called as HUA CHI. They
used it as part of their “ rituals” in the early parts of their history.

In 246-210 B.C., emperor Te In Shi was noted to be the fist Chinese leader who made a seal
carved from white jade wherein one side of it had the name of the owner & the other side had the
impression of the thumb. It was used in selling documents as a sign of legitimacy & authenticity.
Likewise, for many centuries, the emperor’s thumb mark on letters of the state was the ruler’s sign
manual and fingerprints were accepted for the signing of business contract on the part of the illiterate
people & also to identify criminals.

Shi-nanigan, a Chinese author wrote crime novels like the story of the river bank, focusing on
the cruel deeds of the pirates. On the other hand, Wu Sung apprehended two (2) women who killed his
brother and compelled them to impress their fingerprints for records purposes which concluded that
the science of fingerprints had found its way into Chinese criminal procedure may be because they were
very much familiar with the different patterns & essential characteristics of fingerprint. They even called
tge arches and whorls as “LO” (snail) & loops as “KI” ( Sieve ir winnowing basket) which they believed
as signs of good fortune. However, the Chinese did not formulate any fingerprint classification system.

HOLLAND

Individual identification was by means of wearing clothes of different design, tattooing, branding
and mutilation.

OLD MEXICO

The Aztecs impressed their hands on the soft clays of their hand made idols.

The toldetes stamoed their hand on the death warrants for all who offered to sacrifice their lives
for their God idols.

FRANCE

Painting and rock carvings featuring hand design have been found in the gratine wall slab in the
burial passage of L’lle de Gav’rinis.

BABYLONIA

The first use of fingerprints for identification purposes came when Babylonian magistrates
ordered their officers when making arrest and property seizure to take defendants fingerprints. The
cuneiform writings and clay tables are preserved and kept at the british museum.

JAPAN

The thumb points print of the criminal is takein as regards his sentence but was then considered
an inferior sort of the signature. The thumb mark which took the place of the signature was not then
intended to establish criminal’s identity.
UNITED STATES

GILBERT THOMPSON- A geologist in new Mexico, who on august 8, 1882, adopted tge first
individual use od fingerprints by using his own thumb print to prevent tampering of the pay order he
issued.

ISAIAH WEST TABER- A photographer who supported the use of fingerprint in the registration of
Chinese immigrants.

SAMUEL CLEMENS- whose Num de Pluma or pen name is Mark Twain, informally introduced
Dactyloscopy ( study of fingerprints examination) in his books life in Mississippi and Puddling head
Wilson

Dr. HENRY DE FOREST- used the first municipal civil use of fingerprints for non-criminals on
December 19, 1902 in the civil service commission of new York.

Capt. JAMES PARKE- supported the first use of state and penal use of fingerprints of officially
adopted it on June 5, 1903 at singing prison, later at Napamoch, auburn and at Clinton penitentiary.

Sgt. JOHN KENNETH FERRIER- an Englishman and first instructor at he St. Louis police academy
in Missouri teaching fingerprints. One of the students of sir Edward Richard henry, an inspector general
of the metropolitan police force in London, England and through talks during a world trade expedition in
St. louis , a fingerprint bureau was established on april 12, 1904

Maj. E. Mc Cloughry- a warden at the Leavenworth federal penitentiary in Kansas. When the
office of the us attorney general granted permission to establish a fingerprint bureau on November 2,
1904, he managed it and became the first official national government of fingerprint.

MARY K. HOLLAND- The first American instructuress of dactyloscopy.

The federal bureu of investigation (FBI)- was established in 1908 and through Act of congress
in 1924 established and identification unit. The fingerprints at the leavanworth penitentiary and the
international association of chiefs of police were combined forming a nucleus which now includes the
larget single collection of fingerprints in existence.

Institute if applied science (IAS) – the first private school to provide laboratories for
instructional purposes in dactyloscopy.

PEOPLE VERSUS JENNINGS ( 252 III. 534, 96 N.E.1077, 43 L.R.A ( N. S. 120+),1911) – The US
leading case wherein the first conviction was based on fingerprints (December 21, 1911).

PHILIPPINES

Bureau of prisons- in 1918 the “carpetas” or commitment and conviction records already bears
fingerprints.
 Lt. Asa Darby- during the pre-occupation of the Philippines by the American forces, under her
management, a modern and complete fingerprint file has been established for the Philippine
commonwealth.

Generoso Reyes- the first Filipino fingerprint technician employed at the Philippine
constabulary.

Isabela bernales- first Filipina fingerprint technician.

Mr. jones- one who first taught fingerprint in the Philippine constabulary in the year 1900.

Capt. Thomas dugan- of the new York police department and flaviano guerrero of the FBI of the
FBI gave the governmental examination in fingerprint in 1937, and was topped by atty. Agustin Patricio
of the National bureau investigation.

People versus medina- (59 phil.330) – first conviction based on fingerprint (December 20, 1933)
and the judicial decision in Philippine Jurisprudence.

Philippine collage of criminology (PCCR), Formerly planridel education institute (PEI) was the
first school to 1 the science of fingerprints and other police sciences in the country.

DIFFERENT METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

The previous pages discussed the highlights of the history of personal identification specifically
fingerprint different countries. Moreover, a side from fingerprint, there are several ways of determining
the identify of the person are also very useful in the detection of crimes. The following are some of
those:

1. Portrait Parle;

2. Tattoo & Scarification;

3. BertillIon System;

4. Photography;

5. Personal effects;

6. Forensic Odontology &

7. Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA)

POINEERS IN FINGERPRINTS & THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS

Dr. NEHEMIAH GREW

He was an Englishman, a fellow of the royal collage of physicians and a professional botanist, in
1684 offered the earliest known European publication of fingerprint observation.
MIDLO- in 1685, authored a book entitled human anatomy wherein he included a drawing of the
thumbs print shows whorl pattern.

PROF. MARCELO MALPHIGI

(GRANDFATHER OF DACTYLOSCOPY)

He was a professor of anatomy at the university if bologna, Italy and an Italian physiologist who
in 1686, pres a scientific paper describing the anothomical layers of the human skin, specifically those
covered by the friction ridge termed the divers figures as loops and spirals. One layer of the human skin
is named after him, the malphigian layer.

J.C MAYER

In 1788, he advocated the principle of individuality.

PROF. JOHANNES EVANGELISTA PURKENJE

(FATHER OF DACTYLOSCOPY)

He was a professor of anatomy, theology and physiologist at the university of Breslau, Prussia in
1823, describe the different patterns of the fingers and classified them into nine (9) groups.

HERMAN WELCKER

He conducted an experiment by taking the prints of his own fingers and after forty-one years he
took against prints of the same fingers & proved that fingerprints do not change. This is known as the
principle of immutability