Rene Vincent B.

Tad-o
 3rd Century B.C.E. China
- used fingerprint marks in
legal disputes over business
dealings and to claim
ownership of a document or
object
 17th Century Europe
Nehemiah Grew (1641–1712)
 an English physician who
took note of the
“innumerable little ridges”
that he observed on the tips
of fingers
 c. 1823
Jan Purkinje (1787–1869)
- a Czech physiologist who noted
that fingerprints commonly
followed one of nine distinctive
patterns, which he called:
 transverse curve, central
longitudinal stria, oblique
stripe, oblique loop, almond
whorl, spiral whorl, ellipse,
circle, and double whorl
 c. 1850s
William Herschel (1833–1918)
 one of the pioneers in the effort
fingerprints in law enforcement
 as an assistant joint magistrate and
collector for the British government of
Hooghly district of India, he introduced
a system of having each pensioner
under his administration to leave his
thumbprint on a receipt to indicate that
he had received payment
 c. 1880
Henry Faulds (1843-1930)
 Scottish doctor who wrote a letter to the
British science magazine Nature the
potential use of fingerprints in crime
detection
 got the idea while working as a
missionary in Japan and he
inadvertently been introduced to the
traditional use of fingerprints by
Japanese artisans to identify their work
 Credited with the first fingerprint
identification
 c. 1892
Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911)
 published the first scientific book
on fingerprinting, Finger Prints
which were used by law
enforcement officers and criminal
prosecutors to convict criminals
 drew heavily on the research of
both Herschel and Faulds to
develop a system by which the
precise pattern of a set of prints
could be used to identify its owner
 c. 1900
Sir Edward Henry (1850–1931)
 an English police officer who
developed the first workable
system of fingerprint classification
 published a book describing his
system, Classification and Uses of
Fingerprints, that rapidly became a
standard source for law
enforcement agencies around the
world
 c. 1904
Juan Vucetich (1858–1925)
 was a Croatian-
Argentine anthropologist and
police official
 expanded the idea of Francis
Galton on fingerprinting
 published Dactiloscopía
Comparada ("Comparative
Dactyloscopy")
 the patterns of raised skin found
on the fingers of every individual
 develop in the womb and the
pattern of each fingerprint will
remain the same throughout a
person’s life
 are biometrics (measurable
biological features used for
identification purposes )
*** Forensic investigators
utilize fingerprints to
corroborate evidence that a
suspect was present at a
crime scene. If fingerprints
are properly collected and in
good condition to be
analyzed, they may be
admissible in court.
 Is it possible to remove your
1. fingerprint patterns are fingerprint?
unique
2. fingerprint patterns do not
change during a person’s
lifetime

* No two humans have ever

been found who have identical
fingerprint patterns.
Known prints of a subject
taken in July 1990 and
September 2004.
1. Hypodermis
- made up primarily of adipocytes
- connected with dermis through
interlocking fibers and blood vessels and
nerve networks

2. Dermis - the connective tissue that

supports the epidermis and binds it to the
hypodermis
- contain the sweat glands
- composed of two layers: the papillary layer
(a loose connective tissue) and the reticular
layer (contain collagen and elastic fibers)
 Epidermis
– is the outermost layer of skin
- the protective barrier of the skin
- a layered tissue that must constantly replace the
cells leaving the surface

5 Layers:
1. Stratum basale
- the innermost layer of the epidermis
- Richly supplied by blood
- consists of a single layer of keratinocytes that
continually divide
2. Stratum Spinosum
- partly responsible for the skin’s strength and
flexibility
- keratinocytes from Stratum basale move into
this layer

3. Stratum Granulosum
- from Stratum spinosum keratinocytes move into
this layer
- the cells located here contain many granules
- keratinocytes produce a lot of keratin
(keratinization) and lose their nuclei
 4. Stratum Lucidum
- made up of dead cells which occurs largely as a
result of the distance the keratinocytes find
themselves from the rich blood supply
- easily found in certain hairless parts of our body
(palm and sole)

5. Stratum Corneum
- only layer of skin we see with our eyes
- the keratinocytes in this layer are called
corneocytes (dead skin cells with tough protein
keratin)
*This entire cycle, from new keratinocyte in the stratum
- The corneocytes serve as a hard protective layer
basale to a dead cell flaked off into the air, takes
between 25–45 days.
Ridges or friction ridges
 folded hills or raised areas
 provide the friction needed to grip and hold an
object
 there more than 150 different ridge characteristics
(also known as minutiae)

Grooves
 valleys or depressions Sweat emitting from the
pores on the friction
ridge skin.
* One problem with the process of fingerprint identification is deciding
how many of those 150 characteristics must match in order for the
prints to be said to be identical. Law enforcement experts in different
countries uses different number of points to match two fingerprints:

United Kingdom 16 points-system

Australia 12 points-system

New Zealand: 12 points-system

India 8 points-system

US Federal Bureau 12 points-system

of Investigation (FBI)
 Common Ridge Minutiae

Print ridges on finger tips are found

in basic patterns with small,
distinguishable variations known as
minutiae.
 Common Ridge Minutiae

Print ridges on finger tips are found

in basic patterns with small,
distinguishable variations known as
minutiae.
1. Loops
- Ridges enter from one side of the finger (either
left or right), form a loop or hairpin turn, and exit
on the same side of the fingertip from which they
entered.
- the most common pattern (50% of people)
- Classification:
a. radial loops (enter and exit toward the
thumb)
b. ulnar loops (enter and exit toward little
finger)
2. Whorls:
- Ridges form almost concentric circles or spirals in
the center of the fingertip.
- About 30% of people have whorl ridge patterns
- Classification:
a. plain whorls,
b. central pocket loops (one ridge that makes a
complete circuit without touching another
ridge)
c. double loops (two loops within the whorl)
d. accidental whorls (combination of other
patterns)
3. Arches
- Ridges enter from one side of the
fingertip, create a wave or tent shape,
and exit on the opposite side from which
they entered.
- This is the least common fingerprint
pattern
- Classification:
a. plain arches
b. tented arches (sharper rise than plain
arch)
1. Henry Classification System
2. Vucetich Classification System

 Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification

System (IAFIS) – a computerized system that
automatically scan and compare of two or more sets of
fingerprints at high speed. It also has searching
capabilities, can store images, and electronically
exchange fingerprints and responses.
1. Visible Fingerprint
 are what left behind when a
person transfers some type of
colored material (paint, grease,
dirt, ink, blood) on his or her
hand to a smooth surface by
touching it
2. Plastic Fingerprint
- are produced when a person
touches a soft material (clay, mud,
soap, or wax) in which the friction
ridges produce a visible pattern
3. Latent Fingerprint
 invisible to the human eye
 are composed of eccrine
secretions, produced by small
sweat glands located just under
the surface of friction ridges
The Kind of Surface on which the prints are
deposited is one of the variables affecting
fingerprint identification.
1. rough or smooth
2. Porous or nonporous
 porous - the materials that make up the
fingerprint (water and solids found in eccrine
secretions) may soak into the material and
migrate away from the area where they were left
 nonporous – does not present the kind of
problem in porous material
1. locating the print
2. developing and/or enhancing its properties
for better viewing
3. protecting and preserving the print
 These substances
which are present in
very small amounts
are important because
they may serve as the
basis for some
characteristic
chemical reaction by
which they, and
therefore the
fingerprint itself, may
be detected.
I. Powder test
II. Chemical tests,
III. Use of optical procedures
A. Colored Powder Test
1. Sprinkle the powder on a camel’s hair,
nylon, or other fine-haired brush.
2. Wipe the brush gently across the surface
being tested. Too much force on the surface
may damage the fingerprint ridges
3. The visible print can then be
photographed or studied by other methods.

*An investigator will select powder color (black,

white, gray, and red) that provides the best contrast
between the print and the surface it is on.
B. Small Particle Reagent (SPR)
Analysis
 a variation of the powder detection
method
 can be used on wet surfaces
 the object on which the
fingerprints have been deposited is
submerged in an aqueous
suspension of an insoluble solid in
water which stick to the organic
portion of the prints
C. Vacuum Metal Deposition (VMD)
 most sensitive powder-deposition
methods
 use to develop latent fingermarks on
non-porous, semi-porous and porous
exhibits
 The method can be used when only
very small amounts of print material
have been left behind on a surface.
 Uses a vacuum container, gold and
zinc
 second method of fingerprint detection
 results in the formation of a characteristic colored
product

A. Silver Nitrate Test

- used less frequently (becomes blurry over time)
- fingerprints become visible as a grayish pattern
1. Spray or gently wipe a small amount of a 3 percent
solution of silver nitrate across the surface being
examined for fingerprints.
2. Then expose the surface to ultraviolet light or, if
that is not available, to bright normal light.
B. Iodine Fuming Test
- the brownish print evidence fades rather quickly
1. Suspend the surface on which prints have been deposited in a closed container.
2. Iodine crystals are heated in a separate container, and the vapors produced are
passed into the closed container.
*fix the detected print using one of the following:
 starch solution - permanent blue pattern
 naphthoflavone - print turns a dark purple
C. Ninhydrin Test
- can be used in detecting prints that are
up to 15 years old
- is conducted with a solution of about 0.5
percent ninhydrin in some appropriate solvent
(such as ethanol or acetone)
- the solution is sprayed on the surface on *The results could be
which prints are suspected, and the appearance enhanced and preserved by
will be a distinctive purple print the addition of a second
- color may begin to develop within a few reagent. For instance zinc
hours or as long as 48 hours which causes a color
change from purple to
orange.
1. One of the simplest modifications of light to
reveal a latent print is simply to shine a strong
line source at an oblique angle to the surface.

2. Reflected Ultraviolet Imaging System (RUVIS)

- emits an ultraviolet light that is directed at a
surface suspected of holding latent prints which
may become visible

3. Lasers are often useful in producing

fluorescence of latent fingerprints because they
provide an intense monochromatic beam of light