The first time a fingerprint at a crime scene was used to link a suspect to a crime occurred in 1879 in Tokyo, Japan. A hospital had been burglarized, and the police had a suspicion of who had committed the crime. The swirls on a fingerprint left on a wall, however, did not match the alleged criminals fingertip, and he was released.

The process of matching fingerprints now is performed through the FBIs Next Generation Identification (NGI) System. This system provides more accurate biometric recognition and quicker response times than the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) it ultimately will replace. Detectives scan fingerprints they find at crime scenes, and the NGI computer searches the database of more than one million prints from criminal and civil subjects and attempts to find similarities in the loops, arches, and whorls. The NGIs Rap Back function gives criminal justice entities, such as law enforcement agencies and parole offices, updated status notifications of crimes committed by people holding positions of trust, such as teachers. In addition, the Interstate Photo System (IPS) facial recognition service permits police to search photo images of people associated with criminal identities.

At times, forensic scientists cannot locate fingerprints, but they do find palm prints. Burglars can leave these prints on windows as they peer inside to see if anyone is home. The palm prints also are lifted from doorknobs, ledges, paper, and weapons. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are adding palm prints to the fingerprint database. RCMP forensic experts locate palm prints in 30 percent of the crime scenes they investigate. They are hopeful the expanded database along with their use of sensitive Vacuum Metal Deposition (VMD) technology will help them to recover fingerprints from evidence in cold cases. The VMD instrument creates a vacuum, allowing the metal to vaporize and adhere to fingerprint residue on fabrics, firearms, plastic, and other nonporous and partially porous objects.

In what other scenarios might forensic databases be useful? What additional fields could be added to forensic databases to assist criminal justice entities in their crime investigations?