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Importance of fingerprints in criminal investigations
Importance of fingerprints in crime scene rssay
Forensic evidence in criminal investigations
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Fingerprinting
A pale, water-filled body washes up on a lonely stretch of an open beach in a non-rural area. A car accident takes the life of a driver or passenger during a short trip home or perhaps to a store nearby. A massive fire is caught in a methamphetamine lab and devastates an apartment building or a home. A boyfriend or girlfriend murders their significant other and frames them for committing suicide. A child shows up missing for months and is later found dead in the middle of deep woods. These are all a great example of a crime scene. So what exactly is a crime scene? It is the place or area where an offense has been committed and forensic evidence may be gathered. Thankfully, there are people who go in and dig deeper into
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Whereas all of these different aspects are very important for their roles played in crime scene investigation, collecting latent fingerprints happens to really standout as a very useful source due to two features: their persistence and their uniqueness. Fingerprinting alone can tell investigators so much about a crime scene, and automatically leads to well thought out conclusions. They offer an infallible means of personal identification. That is the essential explanation for fingerprints having replaced other methods of establishing the identities of criminals reluctant to admit previous arrests. For example; let’s say a young, first time mother has a three year old child. She has been living with the father of her child, …show more content…
If there are any slight unexplained differences between the prints, the known fingerprint may be excluded as a specific source. If there are no unexplained differences, the conclusion would be identification. The last and final step is the verification of the evaluation. Specialists of fingerprinting evaluate and analyze all the small and tiny curves and swirls of the fingerprints to determine and decide if they are the same pattern that are being dealt with in the crimes. Databases such as AFIS, Automated Fingerprint Identification System, have been created as a way of assisting the fingerprint examiners during these examinations. These databases help provide a fast and quicker way to sort through matches that are more unlikely. This leads to much faster paced identification of unknown prints and allows fingerprints to be as widely used as possible as they are in criminal investigations. These steps are what make for success in
The acceptance of fingerprint identification in the judicial system as scientific evidence has become like expert testimony. Advances in image processing have impacted how fingerprints can be lifted without being destroyed, which has led to fingerprint evidence becoming the silent testimony leading to more conventions. In the case of the United States v. Byron C. Mitchell Criminal Action No. 96-00407, fingerprints found in the car were the scientific evidence which identified Mitchell as a participant in an armored car robbery (Appellant Counsel for Appellee, 2003).
Another discrepancy between actual forensics and how it is portrayed in the media is the availability of information in databases. There is only a small percentage of the entire population’s fingerprints or DNA samples stored within databases such as the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). This makes finding a match between a DNA sample or fingerprint difficult, as a match would only be found if the person’s information was already stored within the database. If there is no match previously stored in a database, the fingerprint or DNA sample could be potentially rendered useless within a trial. Typically, in order to perform an analysis, investigators must already have a suspect in mind and request a DNA or fingerprint sample from him or her. If the suspect does not want to provide one however, the sample collected as evidence may not count as valid. The CSI effect creates an idealized image that all crimes can be solved with a hair or drop of blood, but this is not always the case in real life.
Although physical proof is vital in police investigations, when there's depleted evidence present at the crime scene, offender profiles are often created to lead law enforcement towards physical evidence and possible suspects. This is important as physical evidence such as fingerprints, fibres and biological evidence, aids to establish the guilt or innocence of potential suspects, although criminal profiling can be used in court it itself is not evidence but built of evidence from the crime scene to establish
Contextual information also affects the human comparative part of fingerprint analysis, in ways that alter the matching of the same fingerprints, years apart; however, when contextual information is provided, it actually helps 20% of forensic technicians, but that still leaves 80% hindered by contextual information (Dror et al, 2006). Contextual information affects the psychological aspects of perception and problem-solving, in a way that can obscure information that does not support the context, and it can even affect how forensic technician’s view and handle forensic evidence (Bernstein et al, 2013). However, there are some advantages of contextual information, because it can give the forensic division a mental shortcut, saving time and money; however, these shortcuts lead to inaccurate and biased conclusions. This essay has shown that contextual information creates erroneous mistakes and prejudiced results in forensic investigations. A possible way to remove the negative effects of contextual information is to have the forensic technicians, not know the context of the crime so that they do not
By the 19th century, the criminology research scholars have had a keen interest in biometric identification, they hope to combine physical characteristics with criminal tendencies, which resulting in a series of measuring devices, and also collected a large amount of data. Since then, the concept of measuring a person's physical characteristics are finalized, fingerprints also become the identification of international methodological standards for public security agencies. People often debate whether fingerprints have absolutely unique, and also thought that the different countries have the different standard for identifying fingerprints. So far, it is still the most widely methods of public security organs, and the process is also automated.
Rape, murder, theft, and other crimes almost always leave a devastating mark on the victim. More often than not, it would be impossible to identify the perpetrator a crime without forensic science and the technology it uses. Forensic science allows investigators to unmask the secrets of the crime scene. Evidence gathered at the crime scene helps to identify the guilty party, murder weapon, and even the identity of the victim (Harkawy, 1991: 276). The new technologies enables the forensic experts to have better and faster access to accumulated information, to be more accurate in the identification of victims or delinquents, and minimizes the possibility of wrongful accusations. New technology has improved the methods and techniques that forensic scientists and law enforcement investigators use, in order to provide a safer environment for other people. Information technology is one of the most important aspects in forensic science. It is very important for the forensic experts to receive the undisturbed evidence, such as fingerprints left at the crime scene, as quickly as possible, for more accurate readings. Thus using space technology, such as satellite communication, enables the forensic experts to "gather and digitize evidence at the crime scene, enter it into an on-site computer, and beam the data to a crime lab for swift analysis" (Paula, 1998: 12). Therefore, due to the use of this technology, forensic experts in laboratories can examine the evidence in short time, and the possibility of damage or unlawful manipulation of the evidence before the trial is minimal (Paula, 1998: 12). More often than not, "criminals" wear gloves at the time of the crime, thus to obtain a fingerprint...
The criminal justice system has changed a lot since the good old days of the Wild West when pretty much anything was legal. Criminals were dealt with in any fashion the law enforcement saw fit. The science of catching criminals has evolved since these days. We are better at catching criminals than ever and we owe this advancement to forensic science. The development of forensic science has given us the important techniques of fingerprinting and DNA analysis. We can use these techniques to catch criminals, prove people's innocence, and keep track of inmates after they have been paroled. There are many different ways of solving crimes using forensic evidence. One of these ways is using blood spatter analysis; this is where the distribution and pattern of bloodstains is studied to find the nature of the event that caused the blood spatter. Many things go into the determination of the cause including: the effects of various types of physical forces on blood, the interaction between blood and the surfaces on which it falls, the location of the person shedding the blood, the location and actions of the assailant, and the movement of them both during the incident. Another common type of forensic evidence is trace evidence. This is commonly recovered from any number of items at a crime scene. These items can include carpet fibers, clothing fibers, or hair found in or around the crime scene. Hairs recovered from crime scenes can be used as an important source of DNA. Examination of material recovered from a victim's or suspect's clothing can allow association to be made between the victim and other people, places, or things involved in the investigation. DNA analysis is the most important part of forensic science. DNA evidence can come in many forms at the crime scene. Some of these forms include hair; bodily fluids recovered at the crime scene or on the victim's body, skin under the victim's fingernails, blood, and many others. This DNA can be the basis of someone's guilt or innocence; it has decided many cases in the twentieth century. As the times continue to change and the criminals get smarter we will always need to find new ways to catch them. Forensic science is the most advanced method yet, but is only the beginning. As the field of science grows so will the abilities of the
Once a crime has been committed the most important item to recover is any type of evidence left at the scene. If the suspect left any Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at the crime scene, he could then be linked to the crime and eventually charged. A suspect’s DNA can be recovered if the suspect leaves a sample of his or her DNA at the crime scene. However, this method was not always used to track down a suspect. Not too long ago, detectives used to use bite marks, blood stain detection, blood grouping as the primary tool to identify a suspect. DNA can be left or collected from the hair, saliva, blood, mucus, semen, urine, fecal matter, and even the bones. DNA analysis has been the most recent technique employed by the forensic science community to identify a suspect or victim since the use of fingerprinting. Moreover, since the introduction of this new technique it has been a la...
The three different main types of fingerprints are Loops, Arches, and Whorls (Jackson 1). Henry Faulds is known as the Father of Fingerprints and developing fingerprints (Jackson 1). His discovery of fingerprints has made a huge impact not only in his time but, in Modern Crime Scene Investigation (Jackson 1). Without fingerprinting, it would be very difficult to convict criminals of crimes and very hard to try to process information. Crime Scene Investigators make a huge impact in Forensic Science. We need CSI workers, without them people could only imagine what crime would be like not only in our community, but in our
Everyone in Canada should be photographed and fingerprinted because it would make it easier to catch criminals and over all make a law enforcement officer’s job less stressful. The reason for this would be that officers can identify who committed a crime by simply scanning a bank robber’s face from a surveillance camera then matching the photograph they took of him even 20 years ago (all because technology is moving so fast). This would not be an invasion of privacy because the police officers would not be using the face recognition from the photograph or fingerprints as a device to search through people’s personal lives, it would be used to identify criminals and would also help prevent crime from occurring. I.e. if people knew the government had a face recognizer and can instantly match fingerprints, many people would decide to rather live a crime free life and earn an honest way of living because they know that if the police are called to the crime, they can scan the fingerprints and find a match. The data base that holds this information would also help direct law enforcement to where the suspect lives, works, goes every week, the car he drive etc. which would help in quickly apprehending the culprit and bringing him to justice. An example of how useful fingerprinting technology is was when Jerry Watson was convicted of committing murder 30 years earlier. At the time (1978), the latent fingerprint from the crime scene could not give the police any leads. Technology kept advancing, which allowed the police force identify and test the fingerprint and after a few days, they identified the culprit to be Jerry Watson. Seeing that the idea of everyone being fingerprinted and photographed would solve and prevent crime in Canada, it would be a good idea to implement it into society.
“DNA samples of semen retrieved from the crime scene matched blood drawn from Andrews. At that time, no state had a DNA databank. However, after witnessing the power of DNA evidence, state courts and state legislatures would soon grapple with the issue of whether DNA evidence should be admitted at trial as identity evidence and whether establishing state DNA databanks would be feasible and of value to law enforcement. A review of current law reveals that almost every state has embraced and institutionalized the utilization of DNA fingerprinting for crime fighting purposes” (Hibbert,
...A. Maria, Ruth M. Robin. (2009). Latent prints: a perspective on the state of the science. Forensic Science Communications. 11.4.
DNA fingerprinting is a way of getting a person’s identification. This is shown in Figure 3 on page 4. One can extract DNA from hair, nails, blood, skin or even saliva. It was first used to discover genetic diseases but now is also used to help catch criminals or research the dead in order to unlock the evolution of mankind.
This can make the process of narrowing down suspects much easier. Databases of citizens’ personal information can also be found. Therefore a person could be found easily when needed for questioning.
Crime scene investigation is the use of physical evidence at the scene of the crime committed, also reasonable and unreasonable reasoning to gain knowledge of the events surrounding the crime Throughout this paper I have shown you how to successfully conduct a crime scene investigation. After reading this paper thoroughly you should know to secure a crime scene, collect the evidence the proper way and how to take the crime scenes.