What is fingerprint analysis? Investigators have been using the results of forensic fingerprint analysis to solve crimes for more than a century. Fingerprint analysis generally involves comparing fingerprints found at a crime scene — called latent fingerprints — with fingerprints from a known individual and assessing how similar they are. A trained fingerprint examiner makes that assessment by comparing details including the shapes that the ridge lines form and where the lines end or split. Latent prints are often partial, distorted or smudged, so the first step is to determine if there is sufficient detail in the latent print to make a comparison. If not, no further analysis is done. If there is enough detail in the latent print, the examiner will carefully compare the features of the two prints and determine, based on training and experience, if the prints are likely to have come from the same person or from different people.
What we do
Some studies have shown that different examiners occasionally come to different conclusions when assessing the same evidence. This is not unexpected, as any human endeavor necessarily involves some chance of error. However, those chances can be reduced. NIST is working to develop computer algorithms that would automate some parts of the fingerprint analysis process, with the goal of reducing the opportunities for error and making the process more reliable and efficient.
The Research
Projects & Programs
Forensic Handwriting Examination and Human Factors
Completed
For some 6,000 years, humans have made an indelible mark on history through the loops, strokes, and other characters that constitute the written form of language—handwriting. Whether it is the movement of a stylus inscribing wet clay or the motion of a pen across paper, handwriting is one of the
NIST Ballistics Toolmark Database
Ongoing
The database contains traditional reflectance microscopy images and three-dimensional surface topography data acquired by NIST or submitted by database users. The goal is a collection of data sets that: 1) represents the large variety of ballistic toolmarks encountered by forensic examiners, and 2)
Fingerprint Chemistry
Ongoing
Verification Test Materials (VTMs) for Fingerprint Developing Reagents The forensic community has no quantifiable QA/QC method for determining the efficacy of fingerprint developing reagents prior to use in casework. Reagents can be exposed to environmental conditions in the field that can expedite
Latent Print AFIS Interoperability Working Group
Ongoing
Why is AFIS Interoperability Important? Automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) allow latent print examiners to search fingerprint files and to transmit fingerprint images. However, examiners often lack the technological ability to access AFIS in neighboring jurisdictions. In addition
Additional Resources Links
Do You Have What It Takes to be a Forensic Fingerprint Examiner?
With support from NIST, experts are developing tests to help identify people with the pattern-matching skills needed for analyzing fingerprints. Try your eye on a few questions.
News
Forensic Science is in My DNA
Working in law enforcement is as tough as it is rewarding. I got my start in 1968 as a beat cop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My initial years on the force eventually led me to a 50-year career in forensic science. Back in my policing days, pretty much all we had was a uniform, a badge, a nightstick, handcuffs, a sidearm, a pair of comfortable shoes, perhaps a vehicle, a desire to protect and serve and
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