 | Mindy Johnson
has been a full-time Latent Print Examiner for the Wichita Police Department for 3 ½ years. She has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Wichita State University. She has attended numerous training courses through the FBI on latent fingerprint comparisons and processing evidence to find latent fingerprints. She is a member of the International Association for Identification and is a Certified Latent Print Examiner through the IAI. She has testified many times in court on latent fingerprint comparisons and has been certified as an expert witness in this field. Mindy can be reached at 268-4676. |
Wichita Police Department
2004-06-01 12:23:00
What is A.F.I.S.?
Question: What is A.F.I.S? How does it work?
ANSWER: A.F.I.S. is the acronym for Automated Fingerprint Identification System and is a computer used by latent fingerprint examiners world wide to aid in the search of latent prints. A latent print is a chance impression left by the friction ridges found on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. This impression can be left behind on a surface from the perspiration on the hands and feet, or by some other medium, such as ink, paint, or blood. A known fingerprint is an inked and intentional reproduction of one's fingerprints for identification purposes. Fingerprints are categorized into three patterns: loops, whorls, and arches. A person can have one of these patterns on all ten fingers or a combination of all three patterns. Fingerprints are unique to each individual and remain the same throughout one's life. Because of these two reasons, fingerprints can be used to identify a person. Every print has certain points of identification. These points allow an examiner to compare an unknown print to a known print, and when these points of identification correspond between the two prints with no dissimilarities, a positive identification can be made. The A.F.I.S. used by the Wichita Police Department is through Printrak, which is a subsidiary of the Motorola Company. It is linked to the database of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, which contains known fingerprints of anyone who has been arrested in the state of Kansas. Also, anyone who has been employed in Law Enforcement has his or her fingerprints on file with the KBI. These known fingerprints are scanned and stored in this database and maintained by the KBI. These entries are assigned a KBI number. As examiners, we encounter many latent prints and many of those go unidentified. In such cases A.F.I.S is an essential and efficient tool for examiners. The latent print is scanned into the computer and the image is captured. The examiner then marks the points of identification contained in that print that make the print unique. Once a minimum number of points are identified to satisfy the computer's needs, the examiner submits the marked latent to be searched and compared to KBI's database. In a matter of minutes A.F.I.S responds with a list of possible candidates. There can be up to 99 possible candidates returned that could match the latent print that was scanned into the computer. From that list, the examiner manually compares the images on the screen of the latent print to the known prints from KBI. The examiner will have one of two results: 1) there is a possible match, or 2) there is not a match between the latent print and the candidates supplied by A.F.I.S.If the examiner finds a possible match, the KBI number is used to find the corresponding name for that number. The hard copy of the fingerprint card is pulled from the Records Section and the examiner does yet another manual comparison between the fingerprint card and the latent print to verify the identification. A.F.I.S. also allows an examiner to narrow the search by identifying such factors as sex, race, the type of pattern the latent is, and what finger made the impression, if such information is known. An examiner can also zoom in and magnify the print, as well as adjust the contrast and brightness to achieve the best possible image without changing it. At this time our A.F.I.S. system searches only fingerprints and not palm prints, as the KBI's database does not include inked palm prints. The technology is available and should be included soon in our system.
