Fingerprint History &
Principles
Chapter 14
History of Fingerprinting
• Bertillon – body measurement ID
• China – used fingerprints to sign legal
documents (3000 yrs ago)
• Herschel – right handprint used to sign
documents in India
• Fauld – fingerprints might be good to ID
criminals (20 yrs before Galton)
History of Fingerprinting
• Galton – came up with fingerprint
recording method used today
• Sir Henry & Juan Vucetich came up with
methods of refining Galton’s work
• The case of William West – Leavenworth
• 1901 – NYC uses fingerprints (1st)
• United States vs. Byron C. Mitchell – court
case that said fingerprints are admissible
Fundamental Principles of
Fingerprints
1. A Fingerprint is an Individual
Characteristic – no 2 are the same!
– The ridges on your fingers are what make
fingerprints unique
(AKA minutiae)
– About the #, location
& identify of the
ridges
Fundamental Principles of
Fingerprints
2. A Fingerprint will remain unchanged
throughout a person’s lifetime
– The dermal papillae layer of the dermis is
what gives the form and pattern of the ridges
– Your skin releases oils from the pores and
this creates latent, or invisible, fingerprints
that can be examined
– Cannot get rid of them – pg. 409 The case
of Dillinger
Fundamental Principles of
Fingerprints
3. Fingerprints have ridge patterns that
allow them be categorized as a loop, a
whorl or an arch.
a. Loop: enters & exits from the same side
•
•
Ulnar Loop: enter/exits from the
pinky side
Radial Loop: enter/exits
from thumb side
Fundamental Principles of
Fingerprints
b. Arch: enters & exits from opposite sides
•
•
Plain Arch: wavelike pattern
Tented Arch: sharp or spiky rise to the pattern
Plain Arch
Tented Arch
Fundamental Principles of
Fingerprints
c. Whorls: Have 2 deltas and look like spirals
•
•
•
•
Plain Whorl: centered spiral
Central Pocket Loop: looks like a lollipop on a
stick
Double Loop: looks like a sideways ‘S’ – has 2
loops in it
Accidental: a combination of any 2 patterns of
fingerprints or is not one of the others
Plain Whorl
Accidental Whorl
Central Pocket Loop
Whorl
Patterns
Double Loop