PERSONAL

IDENTIFICATION
WEEK 3
 FINGERPRINT
CONCEPTS AND BRIEF
HISTORY
ANCIENT METHOD OF
IDENTIFICATION
1. TATTOOING
People who lived in tribes in ancient
periods used tattooing to identify and indicate
their lineage, social rank, spiritual strength,
and bravery. It was also used to identify
prisoners and slaves.
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME COUNTRIES WHO
EMPLOYED TATTOO AS A MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION:

a. GERMANY – Germany during Nazism

employed tattoo at Auschwitz (1941) in order
to identify the bodies of registered prisoners in
their concentration camps. This is done by
piercing the serial numbers into the arms of the
prisoner for identification purposes.
b. CHINA – Chinese authorities employed facial
tattoos to mark prisoners and slaves
c. ROME – Roman soldiers were required
by law to have identifying tattoos in their
hands in order to make desertion difficult
d.AFRICA – Tribes in various regions in
Africa use tattooing to specify their
ancestral origin, societal status, and
divine power.
2. SCARIFICATION
Scarification is a form of creating a body design or modification
by cutting, etching or burning the skin to form indelible scars. Its
purpose is to identify the members of the same village,
generations, and same lineage. This form of identification was
present in most tribes in Africa and still continuous to exist today.
Some of the tribes who used scarification are Umm Bororo tribes,
BorDinka, Nuer, Hausa, Datoga, Nanumbas, and other ethnic
groups. Scarification varies depending on the tribe. Some have
marks on forehead, others on the chin, cheeks, chest and other
parts of the body. This includes the following
a. Branding
b. Cutting or Mutilation
c. Maiming
CONTEMPORARY METHODS OF
IDENTIFICATION
• Deoxyribonucleic Acid Testing (DNA Testing)
• Voice Analysis/Recognition
• Handwriting Analysis
• Retinal Scan
• Forensic Dentistry/Odontology
• Fingerprint Identification
• Facial Recognition and others
FINGERPRINT

Is an impression design by the

first joint of the fingers and thumb on
smooth surface through the media of
ink, sweat or any substance capable
of producing visibility.
 PERSONS BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT
OF FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION
1. Nehemiah Grew (1684-1712)
- The first European who published friction
ridges and sweat pores (he termed it as little
fountains) observations in a published paper
known as Philosophical Transaction of the Royal
Society of London. He was a plant anatomist
and a physiologist.
2. Govard Bibloo
-works on the sweat pores and ridges.
3. Marcelo Malpighi (1628-1694)
An Italian Anatomist who became professor of Anatomy in
the University of Bologna. He is known as the Grandfather
of Dactyloscopy due to his varied contributions. In his
treatise, he mentioned ridges, loops, and spiral in
fingerprints. However, he made no implication as of its
value for identification. One layer of the skin was named
after him known as Malpighi or Malpighian Layer
4. J.C.A. Mayer (1788)
A German scientist who was first to explain the individuality
of the differences of fingerprint patterns (Principle of
Individuality). He asserted that the arrangement of the
friction skin ridges is never duplicated in two persons.
5. Johannes Evangelista Purkenjie (1787-1869)
A Czech Professor at the University of Breslau, Germany.
Who published a treatise entitled “A Physiological
Examination of the Organ of Sight and the Coetaneous
System” which contained the description and classification of
the fingerprint designs. He classified 9 fingerprint patterns
namely: plain arch, tented arch, loops, oblique loop, whorl
(almond), spiral, ellipse (elliptical whorl), circle (circular
whorl) and double whorl (composite). He is hailed as the
Father of Dactyloscopy
6. Herman Welcker (1856)
He proved that fingerprint remain throughout life (Principle of
Permanency) took his own fingerprints twice with a lapse of
forty-one years and show the ridges formation remains the
same.
7. William J Herschel
He established the Principle of Persistency stating that
the fingerprints are formed at early fetal life and will
remain constant throughout life. He is credited as the
first European to recognize fingerprint as invaluable tool
for identification. He was a British Administrator who
went to India to work in a Civil Service in 1853. He wrote
contracts with local businessmen and had the contract
imprinted with fingerprint on its back portion. This was
the first use of fingerprint as an identification method.
8. Rajadhar Konai
-the first person Herschel printed the palm.
9. Francis Galton (1892)
Cousin of Charles Darwin who published
a book entitled “Fingerprints” containing the
first classification system: Arch, Loops, and
Whorls. He confirmed to the findings of
Herschel that fingerprints do not change
with age and asserted that the ratio of
possibility of two similar fingerprints is 1 is to
64 billion
10. Edward Richard Henry (1888-1925)
He is known as the Father of Modern Fingerprint. He was
appointed as Inspector General in Bengal Police Department in
India and started studying fingerprints as a form of identification.
He devised the Henry Classification System in 1897 – a system
of fingerprint classification where numerical values were
assigned to every finger starting from the right thumb towards
the left little finger. Fingers are arranged in pairs and values are
written in a form of fraction. In 1897, the British authorities
officially accepted the fingerprint classification by Henry as a
system of identifying criminals that continues to be used
worldwide. This replace the anthropometric by Alphonse
Bertillon
Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque and Rai Hem Chandra Bose –
the two Hindu police officers who have help Henry in attaining
his goal.
11.Juan Vucetich (1858-1925)
An immigrant to Argentina who became a statistician
and eventually the Head of Identification Bureau in
Buenos Aires Police Department, he was credited as the
person who first drew a positive identification by the use
of fingerprint in a murder case of Rojas children.
Francisca Rojas killed her two children and then put
the blame on outside attacker. However, a bloody print
was seen and identified her as the killer. As an
statistician, Vucetich made an alpha-numerical
designation of the right hand as the numerator and the
left hand as the denominator. He installed the first files
of fingerprints for the criminal investigation.
1. Gilbert Thompson = a geologist in New Mexico, adopted
the first individual use of fingerprint in august 8, 1882 as
a protection to prevent tampering with the pay order.
2. Isaiah West Tabor = Photographer in San Francisco who
advocated the use of the system for the registration of
the immigrant Chinese.
3. Samuel Langhorne Clemens = An Englishman who
informally introduced Dactyloscopy in the United States
in his book “ Life in the Mississippi” and “ Pupp n Head
Wilson”.
4. Dr. Henry p De Forest = Utilized the first Municipal
Civil use of fingerprint for Criminal Registration on
December 1902 (Mun. Civil Service Comm., New
York).
5. Capt. James L. Parke = Advocate th first state and
penal use of fingerprint adopted in SingSing prison
on June 5, 1903 later on Auburn Napanoch and
Clinton Penitentiaries.
6. Sgt. John Kenneth Ferrier = First fingerprint
instructor at St. Louis Police Dept. Missouri.
7. Maj. R. Mc Cloughry = warden of the
Federal Penitentiaries of Leaven Worth.
Established the first official National
Government use of fingerpprint.
8. Mary K. Holand = first American
instructrees in dactyloscopy.
• FBI = identification unit herein was officially
established by an act of congress in 1924.
• Institute of Applied Science = First private
school to install laboratories for instruction
purposes in dactyloscopy.
• People vs. jenning, Dec. 21, 1911 = United
States leading case wherein the first conviction
based on fingerprint was recognized by the
judicial authorities (14 points).
PHILIPPINES
• Mr. Jones = one who first taught FP in the Phils. (1900)
• Bureau of Prison = (1968) CARPETAS fingerprint was
used.
• Generoso Reyes – First Filipino Fungerprint Technician
employed by P.C.
• Isabela Bernales – first filipina Fingerprint Technician
• Capt. Thomas Dugan, New York Police Dept. and
Flaviano Guerrero, FBI Washington – gave the first
examination in FP in 1927 and Agustin Patricio of the
Phils. Top the Examination
PHILIPPINES
• People of the Phils. Vs. Medina- First conviction
base on Fingerprint and leading case decision in
the Phil. Jurisprudence (10 points).
• Plaridel Education Institute (PEI) now known as
Phil. College of Criminology, first government
recognized school to teach the Science of
Fingerprint and other Police Sciences.
FAMOUS PERSONALITIES
• Robert James Pitts – works on Surgery to forged
his own fingerprints and was named “Man without
fingerprint”
• Lucila Lalu – the first filipina Chop-chop lady who
was identified through fingerprint.
• John Dellinger – known U.S. public enemy
number one who attempt to destroy his own prints
using corrosive acids.
John Dellinger – US Public Enemy
Number 1. (used corrosive acid)
END OF WEEK 3