School of Technology Technology

Southern Philippines
Agri Business and
Marine and Aquatic
School of

PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION

TECHNIQUES MODULE FOR CRIMINOLOGY STUDENTS

 LESSON 1
SCHOLARS WHO STUDIED FINGERPRINT AND
OTHER FORMS OF PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION

AT THE END OF THE LESSON, THE STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

• Fathom the early practice and uses of

fingerprints, to appreciate the individual
contributions of the different scholars in the field
of personal identification.

• Grasp the importance of other methods of

personal identification and its relation to crime
detection, principles on the study of
dactyloscopy and the basic identification and
application of the ridge characteristics in relation
to examination and comparison of fingerprint.
LESSON 1.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF DACTYLOSCOPY

A fingerprint is an impression, a mark, or a trace left by the friction ridges of a human

finger. An impression from the sole of the foot can also leave friction ridges. A friction
ridge is a raised portion of the epidermis on the fingers and toes (digits), the palm of
the hand, or the sole of the foot, consisting of one or more connected ridge units of
friction ridge skin.

The scientific basis that recognized the stability and exceptionality of

fingerprints can be traced in the history of fingerprint identification. This
chapter will focus on its early use and the study of some scholars or
scientists. Although popularly considered because of its modern
usefulness, the study of fingerprints and skin patterns is probably the
oldest of all sciences. Its importance featured significantly million years
ago when tiny life forms left the water and moved about upon land.

The earliest recorded use of fingerprint for identification occurred in China. Fingerprints were
used on agreements to provide proper identification of business transaction. This method was
described by the Chinese historian Kia Kung-Yen in AD 650. The Chinese understood the
uniqueness and nature of fingerprint. Early reference of fingerprinting for identification
purposes also occurred in the reign of King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) in Babylon.
Fingerprints during this period were used to prevent forgeries.

Fingerprinting may have spread from Babylon to other countries. However, it was established
that friction ridges were already used as means of personal identification in China from about
300 BC. The use of friction ridge identification spread from China to Japan. Japanese
 historians make several references to the early uses of friction ridges for identification
purposes. Immigrants from China and Japan who settles in neighboring countries are
believed to be responsible for the spread of fingerprinting in some countries such as India. It
was reported that the British first learned of fingerprinting in India around 1858 through Sir
William Herschel.

Below is the chronological outline of important events in fingerprinting classification.

The works presented by Purkinje, Galton, Bidloo, and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) represent milestones in the history of fingerprint classification.

700 – In ancient China, thumbprints were found on clay seals.

1685 Govard Bidloo, an anatomist in Amsterdam, Holland, published his book on human
anatomy where he illustrated a friction ridge and the pore structure on the underside
of the fingers. Bidloo overstated the breadth (width) of the ridges in his illustration
possibly to highlight their details. The comments of Bidloo were morphological in
nature and he did not refer or mention the individuality of friction ridges.

1686 Marcello Malpighi, professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna, Italy, published
the results of his friction skin research using a newly invented microscope.
1888 published in England in 1892. Galton devised a practical system of classification and filing.
Much of his materials are still used in some parts of the world.

1892 Juan Vucetich, assigned as the chief of identification bureau in Argentina, presented the
bloody prints as evidence in a double murder trial in 1892. He developed his own system of
classification. The system was officially adopted in Argentina and is used today in most
Spanish-speaking countries. He is considered as fingerprint pioneer in Western Hemisphere.

1900 Alphonse Bertillon adopted and advocated the method of body measurement as a criminal
identification. His work was adopted throughout the world. His system of identification is known
as anthropometry.

1900 Gilbert Thompson, commissioned by U.S. Geological Survey, used thumbprints for camp and
ordered expedition to New Mexico, but it was not official yet proven useful.

1901 E. R. Henry was appointed as assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard and his system was
officially adopted in Wales as well as in England.

1902 Henry De Forrest pioneered the systematic use of fingerprints in the United States by the New
York Civil Service Commission.

1904 John Kenneth Ferrier, of the Fingerprint Branch of Scotland Yard, attended the St. Louis Missouri
World Fair where he was assigned to guard the British jewels.

1904 Inez Wilder Whipple, a professor of biology, published her research paper, The Ventral Surface
of the Mammalian Chiridium, With Special Reference to the Condition Found in Man. The
research is part of the modern foundation of scientific knowledge on the formation of friction
ridge skin.

1908 The Federal Bureau of Investigation adopted the fingerprinting.

1910 Frederick A, Braley published a book that appears to be the first American book on fingerprints.
His book was published in Boston by
Worcester.
1911 The first landmark case that recognized the reliability of the fingerprint as a means of evidence
is the case of People vs. Jennings, in the United States, after reviewing the testimony of four
fingerprint experts from the United States and Canada who testified in the basis of fingerprint
identification.

1912 Edmond Locard proved the importance of poreoscopy in the criminal trial of Boudet and
Simonin.

1914 Fingerprints were officially adopted in France.

1915 The International Association of Criminal Identification was founded (the word “criminal” was
later dropped from association’s name).

1916 Frederick Khune published his book The Fingerprint Instructor, which is probably the first
authoritative book on fingerprinting published in the United States.

1918 –Dr. Harris Wilder and Bret Wentworth, professor of zoology, published a textbook entitled
Personal Identification, which discusses the extensive research into the uniqueness of what we
now refer to as the “third level detail.” In their research, they said that all areas of friction skin
are unique.
1918 – Edmond Locard first suggested the 12 matching points characteristic of ridges of the
human skin possible as fingerprint identification.

1924 – By the virtue of an act of Congress, the Bureau of Identification officially established a
fingerprint bureau.

1932 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory was created.

1952 – Alfred Hale published his scientific research on the formation of friction ridge skin, which
explains the differential growth, the random formation of the ridges that shows uniqueness.
His paper is entitled Morphogenesis of Volar Skin in the Human Fetus.

1970’s The first automated fingerprint identification system was developed.

1976 Dr. Michio Okajima published a research paper entitled Dermal and Epidermal Structure of
Volar Skin. His research paper provides additional confirmation on how friction ridge skin is
formed.

1977 Fuseo Matsumur, a trace evidence examiner at the Saga Prefectural Crime Laboratory of
the National Police Agency of Japan, noticed his own fingerprints developing on
microscope slide while mounting hairs from a taxi driver murder case. He related the
information to his co worker Masato Soba, a latent print examiner. Soba would later that
year be the first to develop latent prints by superglue fuming.

1980 Dr. William Babler of Marquette University studied the formation of the friction ridge skin and
published a number of research paper on the subject, including Embryonic Development of
Epidermal Ridges and Their Configuration and Quantitative Difference in
Morphogenesis of Human Epidermal Ridge. In 1990, he provided a testimony at the first
Daubert hearing on fingerprints. Based on his research, he testified that all areas of friction
skin, including individual ridge units, are unique.

1984 Sir Alec Jeffreys, a research fellow at the Leicester University, discovered a method of
identifying individuals from DNA, the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).

1999 The FBI stopped the use of paper fingerprint cards with their new Integrated Automated
Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) site as Clarksburg,
West Virginia. The IAFIS started with individual
computerized fingerprint records for approximately 33 million
 criminals, while the outdated paper cards for the civil files are kept at a facility in Fairmont,
West Virginia. The FBI improved its computerized fingerprint database and applied the
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). This computerized system of
storing and cross
referencing criminal fingerprint records would eventually become capable of searching
millions of fingerprint files in minutes, revolutionizing law enforcement efforts.

1999 Lockhead Martin, in coordination with the FBI, did a computerized statistical study checking
50,000 fingerprints with the same pattern against themselves.
LESSON 1.2 HISTORY OF FINGERPRINTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

The oldest models for classifying fingerprint types were probably introduced at the end
of the eighteenth century. But, significance of the so-called “deltas” in fingerprint was
first described by Francis Galton in the late nineteenth century.

Fingerprinting started in the country in the 1900s through the Americans. It was
reported that a certain Mr. Jones taught the science of fingerprinting in the Philippine
Constabulary (PC). It was also recorded that the Criminal Records and Identification
Division of Manila Police District (formerly Western Police District) utilized the Bertillon
system of identification. After the Second World War, the Henry System of fingerprint
classification was introduced to the county by the U.S Army.

In 1910, the Bureau of Correction (BuCor) in the Philippines, through Generoso La Torre,
adopted the fingerprint system for identification of inmates. He learned the system from
Lt. George M. Wolfe who was assigned as the first director of the Bureau of Prisons from
1909 to 1910.

The Crime Laboratory System in the Philippines was established at the end of World War
II, or on May 19, 1945. It started as a section of G-2 Division of the Military Police
Command, then known as the Fingerprint Record Section of the Philippine
Constabulary.

In 1946, Lt. Asa N. Darby facilitated the establishment of complete fingerprint files in the
Division of Investigation (now known as National Bureau of Investigation). Capt. Thomas
Dugan of the New York Police Department and Flaviano C. Guerrero, a Filipino member
of the FBI, organized the fingerprinting in the NBI. Both Dugan and Guerrero gave the
first examination on fingerprint in 1927.

Generoso Reyes was considered as the first fingerprint specialist/technician employed

in the Philippine Constabulary, while Isabela Bernales was the first Filipina fingerprint
technician assigned in the PC. The first landmark case on fingerprinting in the Philippines
is People of the Philippines vs. Marciano Medina (G.R. No. L-38434, December 23, 1933).

LESSON 1.3 COMMON TERMS USED IN THE STUDY OF FINGERPRINTS

1. Bifurcation
One single ridge splitting or forking into two or more
branches
2. Converging Ridges
Two ridges suddenly tending to approach each other; at
one point, they may even meet and continue a single ridge.
 3. Chiroscopy
The study or examination of the palm of the hands; the term
originated from two Greek works cheir, which means
“hand” and skopein, which means “to study”.
4. Core
An inner terminus of the fingerprint pattern that serves as the characteristics point
in ridge counting.
5. Dactyl
A finger from the Latin dactylus.
6. Dactyloscopy
The science of identification by means of
fingerprints.
7. Dactylography
The study of fingerprint for the purpose of
identification.
8. Dermatoglyphics
The study of lines tracing designed on the
skin of fingers.
9. Delta
An outer terminus of the fingerprint pattern located at
the midway of the place of the divergence.
10. Divergence
The spreading apart of two ridges which after running parallel suddenly separate,
spread apart, and cease to be parallel
11. Fingerprints
Prints of a finger found in the terminal areas of the body particularly in the hands
and feet.
12. Friction skin
The epidermal hairless skin found in the lower surface of the hands and feet
covered with a minute ridges.
13. Furrows
Canals or depressions or hill-like structure found in the epidermis of the skin
containing sweat pores.
14. Islands
A circle or a dot or, at times, an oval found in the pattern area of the fingerprint.
15. Poroscopy
The scientific study of the skin pores.
16. Polydactyl
A condition of having more than the normal number of fingers or toes.
17. Palmar
Pertains or
corresponds to the
palm of the hand,
18. Plantar
Pertains to the sole
of the foot.
19. Podoscopy
A scientific study or examination
of the foot or the sole.
20. Ridge
A raised strip of skin on the inner side of the end joints of fingers.
21. Ridge formation
 Ridges appearances in various formations such as recurving, converging, short,
and long, among others.
22. Recurving ridges – a certain point or course back in the direction of its starting point. 23.
Short ridge
As the term implies, used in the ridge count only when it appears thick and as dark as all
the surrounding ridges.

FINGERPRINTS

Every human being has friction ridges on the fingers, palms of the hands, and soles of the
feet. These regions are viewed as complex pattern of “hills and valleys”; the hills are called
ridges and the valleys are called furrows on the end joint of human fingers and friction ridge
skin forms a number of basic patterns.

Within each simple pattern are many possible distinctions. The patterns form on the skin
surfaces on the early stage or during early infancy development and remain constant during
embryonic life, birth, and the life of the individuals. Individual genetic makeup probably plays
a vital role in determining the sizes and basic characters of the patterns and ridges; however,
it is not the only factor. The identical twins that came from the same inseminated egg and
thus have identical genetic makeup have distinguishably different fingerprints.

FINGERPRINTS AS MEANS OF IDENTIFICATIONS

Fingerprints are unique to an individual, so they are aptly used to identify a person. In the
field forensic science, fingerprint is being used primarily to locate, identify, and eliminate
suspect in criminal cases. Fingerprints, along with
dentition (arrangement of teeth), are also important in
making indisputable identifications of human remains when
more conventional methods of postmortem
identification cannot be used.

There are two important features of fingerprints:

1. Each fingerprint is exceptional or unique to an individual.

2. Fingerprints do not change throughout life except
when damage has occurred to the dermal or to
the innermost part of the skin layer.

FINGERPRINT AS EVIDENCE

Fingerprints are one of the ancient and the most significant pieces of evidence in the field of
crime detection and forensic science. The use of these individual friction ridge skin patterns
on the end joint of the fingers as persona identification dates back many centuries.
Fingerprint match is widely accepted as a certain evidence that identifies a particular
individual.
Principles of Fingerprint Identification
• Ridge patterns and the details in small areas of friction ridges are unique and never repeated.
• Friction ridges develop on the fetus in their definitive form before birth.
 • Ridges are persistent throughout life except when there is permanent scarring.
• Friction ridge patterns vary within limits which allow for classification.

Individual Characteristics of Fingerprints

It is generally accepted within the international courts and the scientific community that no two
fingerprints are exactly alike. Although everyone will have one or more of the eight basic fingerprint
pattern types, the ridge formations of those patterns are unique to that finger and person.

The ridge formations that are used for identification purposes fall into several general categories:
• Bifurcations
• Ridge endings
• Short ridges
• Dots
• Islands (or enclosures)

Every person has these ridge formations. How their ridge formations are arranged within the fingerprint
pattern makes each fingerprint unique. These unique ridge formations are often referred to as minutia.

LESSON 1.4 LATENT

AND INKED
FINGERPRINTS

These are essentially

two types of
fingerprints:
• Latent fingerprints
• Inked fingerprints

Latent Fingerprints

“Latent” is defined as something not readily noticeable by the naked eye. Latent fingerprint is an
impression, usually imperceptible to the naked eye, produced by the ridge skin on human fingers,
palms, or soles of the feet left on crime scene as evidence. These are accidentally or unintentionally
created when a person touches an object. Touching an object transfers perspiration and oils on the
skin to that subject.

Inked Fingerprints

Inked fingerprints are intentional impressions of all ten fingers placed on an official fingerprint card to
be classified and field.

Inked prints can also be elimination prints that are taken at the crime scene or at the place where the
crime is occurred from the people who have legal access to the scene and may have left their
fingerprints at the scene. By collecting elimination prints, if a victim’s latent prints are collected at a
crime scene, those latent prints can be eliminated from further comparisons.
PATENT PRINTS

In addition to latent and inked fingerprints, there are patent prints. The word “patent” means
“obvious” or “evident”. A patent print occurs as a product of transmitting an extra material, such as
paint, tar, grease, or blood that covers the skin of the fingers. Patent prints are noticeable and
usually need no enhancement. They are simply photographed and the element that they are
deposited on is collected when needed. A patent print can also be impressed into a material like
clay or window putty, creating a negative three-dimensional impression of ridges.

LATENT PALM PRINTS

Because friction skin covers the entire palmar surface of the hands, latent palm prints are often left
at crime scenes. Investigators should be aware of the difference between latent finger and palm
prints so the proper elimination prints can be obtained. In other words, elimination fingerprints will
not be useful if the latent prints are palm prints.

LATENT FOOT PRINTS

Friction skin is also present on the soles and toes of the feet. Ridge pattern types are similar to those
found on the hands and fingers. If the offender was barefoot and walking on a relatively smooth
surface, it is possible to obtain latent footprints and compare them to inked footprints.

HOW FINGERPRINTS ARE COMPARED

To perform a fingerprint comparison, the

examiner will either compare inked prints to
inked prints, or latent prints to inked prints.

LATENT FINGERPRINT PROCESSING

TECHNIQUES

Latent fingerprint processing can be divided

into three main categories: physical,
chemical, and instrumental.

There are nearly 25 different methods

commonly used to process and develop
latent fingerprints. In this class, we will only
discuss a few of the most common methods.

PHYSICAL PROCESSING METHODS

Magna Powder is essentially fine iron particles that are applied to

a latent fingerprint by using a magnetic wand (a magna wand). The power is brushed over the
latent and the powder clings to the moisture and oils in the latent. The developed latent print is
then lifted with clear tape on a card. Magna powders come in many different colors, with the
idea that you should use a color that contrasts with the color of the surface background. But,
the fact is, black works well on nearly every surface, even black, and when the print is lifted, the
black latent can be placed on a white card, resulting in a latent print that is easy to see and
compare.
Black Silk Powder is a fine, nonmagnetic powder that is applied by brushing over the patent
prints with the use of fiber brush, a camel hairbrush, or a feather brush. The fiber brush is
generally easier to use and will yield better results. Silk powder latent prints are lifted with tape
and placed on a card. They also came in a variety of colors, but black is best for general use.

Fluorescent Powder come in magna and silk powders with additives that will allow them to
fluoresce while viewed in an alternate light source and colored goggles. The idea behind the
use of fluorescent powders is to create a latent with as much as possible to the background it is
on, making it easier to see and identify. These prints can be lifter with tape and pasted on a
card, but generally must be photographed with color film through the correct colored filter to
be visible for comparison.

Ninhydrin Chemical Processing – Ninhydrin is an amino acid developing reagent. The

development is catalyzed by the addition of steam and heat using a humidity chamber or
steam iron. Ninhydrin may also be used as a blood enhancement technique.

The most common use for ninhydrin is to develop latent prints on paper or raw wood. After the
print dries, a steam iron can be used to apply steam over the treated area to accelerate the
reaction. The latent print will turn a deep purple color. Ninhydrin prints fade over time and
should be photographed soon after processing. To apply, the evidence is dipped, sprayed, or
brushed with ninhydrin.

Methods of recording dermatoglyphics:

A number of methods for recording dermatoglyphics vary in their requirements for equipment,
time and experience and in the quality of the prints produced.

1. Standard methods:
All the methods are relatively easy to use, rapid and inexpensive. However, they vary
in the quality of prints obtained.
2. Ink method:
Purvis Smith described a modified printing method using a roller and a plastic foam
roller sleeve. The detailed description of this method has been explained in materials
and methods. This method is not suitable for use with non-cooperative children and
those with very fine ridges.
3. Inkless method:
This process utilizes commercially existing patented solution which produces black
impressions like ink and specially treated sensitized paper. The technique, generally
followed by forensic departments, is appropriate for printing hands or feet with
appreciable dermal patterns, such as those of older children and adults. This method
has been utilized in the present study for obtaining the fingerprint impressions of the
subjects.
4. Transparent Adhesive Tape Method:
In this method, the print is produced by applying a dry coloring pigment to the skin
and copying it off with the transparent adhesive tape. The coloring agent may be
colored chalk dust, Indian ink, printers ink, powdered graphite, carbon paper,
graphite stick or common oil pasted crayon etc. This method is inexpensive, quick
and easy to employ
with all types of subjects. Prints are clear and do not smudged. They can be preserved
for an indefinite period of time.
5. Photographic method:
This technique is based on the principle of aggravated total inner reflection which
appears when an object is hard-pressed on a prism. The magnified image is captured
by a camera. It requires comparatively expensive gears. Recently, even ordinary
photographic method has also being tried out.
6. Special methods:
These methods are not widely used. However, they may have some advantages that
the standard techniques cannot offer, such as permitting the study of the correlation
between the epidermal patterns and the underlying bone structures
(radio/dermatography), study of sweat pores (hygrophotography), or study of the
spatial shape of ridged skin areas, for eg, in primates (plastic mould method). In 1989,
 some authors have developed a method wherein the exploring region is blackened
with graphite smeared on a piece of cardboard. The print is taken by the Tesa film
and then stick to a transparent film strip or photo printing foil. Such a negative could
be enlarged five to six times. An automatic apparatus for taking finger prints without
ink and also to count ridge numbers between any 2 given points was developed in
1990. Technologies have been improved in the finger print identification. With a single
small chip, technology provides the
basis for fingerprint identification
devices that can prove the users
identity using a fingerprint.
Optical fingerprint scanner is a device
for computer security
featuring superior performance;
accuracy resilience
depended on unique NITGEN
fingerprint Biometric
methodology.

LESSON 1.5 OTHER FORMS OF PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION

Anthropometry is also known as Bertillonage system of identification which is the first adopted method
of identification in the history of police investigation was introduced by Alphonse Bertillon in 1879.
Bertillon began to develop the science of anthropometry, a systematic procedure of taking a
sequence of body measurements as means of identifying one person from another. Bertillonage
system has been used for almost 20 years by the American law enforcement agency.

There are three (3) bases of Bertillonage system of identification, namely:

1. Human skeleton does not change after 20 years.

2. It is possible for two human beings to have similar bones
3. Measurements are easily taken with the aid of simple instruments.

The above system will depend on the details of the characteristics of the individual under the following
classes:

1. Descriptive data such as colors of the hair, eyes, complexion, shape of the nose, ears, and
presence of scars, moles, or deformities.
2. Body marks such as moles and tattoo marks.
3. Body measurement
PORTRAIT PARLE

Portrait parle (spoken picture) is the other form of personal identification made to an
individual if his name is not known; therefore, portrait parle is
a verbal description or picturesque description of the
person identified. Such information may be given by the
witness, family of the victim, or the other person who is
acquainted with the physical features of the person to be
identified.

FORENSIC ORTHODONTOLOGY/ODONTOLOGY

Forensic odontology is another form of personal

identification applied in the police investigation, particularly on a violent crime, specifically if
the victim is on the state of decomposition or if the victim was burned to death.

The importance of studying the human teeth for personal identification is based on the
following:

• The possibility of two persons having the same dentition is quite remote. The adult has 32
teeth and each tooth has five surfaces. Some of the teeth may be missing, carious, with
filling materials, and with abnormality in shape and other peculiarities, in which may
lead to several combinations with almost immeasurable in number of dental
characteristics.

• The enamel of the teeth is the hardest substance of the human body. It may outlast all
other tissues during putrefaction or physical destruction.

DNA FINGERPRINTING PROCESS

DNA Fingerprinting, also called DNA typing, DNA profiling, genetic fingerprinting, genotyping,
or identity testing in genetics, is a method of isolating and identifying variable elements within
the base-pair sequence of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The technique was developed in
1984 by British geneticist Alec Jeffreys after he noticed that certain sequences of highly
variable DNA (known as mini-satellites), which do not contribute to the functions of genes,
are repeated within genes.

Jeffreys acknowledge that each individual has an exceptional pattern of minisatellites (the
only exceptions being multiple individuals from a single zygote, such as identical twins). The
procedure for creating a DNA fingerprint consists of first obtaining a sample of cells, such as
skin, hair, or blood cells, which contain DNA. The DNA is extracted from the cells and purified.
In Jeffreys’s original approach which was based on restriction fragment length polymorphism
(RFLP) technology, the DNA
was then cut as specific
points along the strand
with proteins known as
restriction enzyme.
INTEGRATED AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT
IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (IAFIS)

IAFIS is one of the modern

approaches in identification of a person through fingerprint. One of the advantages of this is
that it only takes an hour to process the searching and comparing of the developed latent prints
to the data system stored in the IAFIS.

IAFIS identified the suspect of 1978 murder case. On October 17, 1978, the Omaha (Nebraska)
Police Department responded to a crime scene where a victim was brutally attacked and
stabbed to death and later identified as 61-year-old Caroll Bonnet, an employee at the local
hospital. The Omaha police processed all the evidence from the crime scene, but they failed in
matching the latent prints against their manual fingerprint repository. The Omaha police
requested for a laboratory examination with the automated biometric technology that was
existing in 1978. The Omaha Police Crime Laboratory searched the latent prints against the FBI
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. In less than five hours, the IAFIS
responded with a list of possible personalities for comparison purposes. More than a few days
were dedicated to observe the latent print evidence against the IAFIS results which led to the
constructive identification of the first suspect.
 LESSON 2
FINGERPRINT PATTERNS AND
INTERPRETATION

AT THE END OF THE LESSON, THE STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

• Perceive the different types of fingerprint pattern

and their purpose and uses,
• Apply basic knowledge on identifying the
fingerprint pattern and the importance of
examination for possible solutions of crimes and
examination and comparison of the different types
of whorl in relation to possible identification of the
suspect or the missing person.
types of fingerprints as follows
Types of Fingerprints
Based on ridge patterns, there are four
Sometimes accidental varieties with no specific ridge pattern may also available.

Loop: -In this type, ridges starts from one side, run in parallel lines and then curve
backward to terminate in the same side. When these ridges start and end on the
medial side of the finger tips then it is called as Ulnar Loops, whereas when it starts and
ends on the later side of the fingertip, it is termed as Radial Loop.

Whorl: In this type, the ridges follow a circular path. When there are multiple ridges
running one around the other forming an oval or circular structure, the pattern is known
as concentric. Sometimes single ridge running in spiral manner may also be observed.
Arch: In this type of fingerprints, the ridges starts from one side and after running
upward, it takes downward course to end on the opposite side forming a curve or
arch. When the ridge makes a wave like curve, the pattern is known as Plain Arch,
whereas when there is a formation of acute angle at the curving point, the pattern is
called as Tented Arch.

Composite: In this variety of fingerprints, there is a combination of more than one

pattern of the ridges. It may be in the form of whorl and loop or two whorls or two loops
or even may be whorls, arch and loops.
I

The main pattern of ridge is surrounded by two series of divergent ridges termed as
Type Lines. The point of outermost ridge which is nearest to the divergent type lines is
called as Delta and the central point of the ridge pattern is known as Core. Hence in
case of loops, the core is the distal most point of the inner most ridge from the delta
and in case of whorls, there are two deltas one on each side. Arches have no delta.
Minutiae Structures: Ridges shows minutiae structures within their course. These may be
spur, dot, lake, island, bifurcation, fork, short ridge eye etc. Those are more important
for the personal identification of an individual. 15-20 points of similarity in the minutiae
are essential to establish positive identification.

Other Minutiae Structures of Fingerprints

The Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints:

1. A fingerprint is a unique characteristic. No two individuals have yet been

found to possess identical ridge features which makes fixation of identity
infallible.
2. A fingerprint will remain unchanged during an individual’s entire lifetime.
3. Pattern of fingerprints can be systematically classified.
4. Fingerprints can be procured from highly putrefied bodies, either from the
peeled off epidermis of the fingers or even from the dermis when the
epidermis is lost.
5. Fingerprints can be taken even from mummified dead bodies by dipping the
dissected out fingertips in weak alkaline solution, when the fingertips along
with the ridges get their normal shape and sizes or by injecting glycerine into
the fingertips.
6. Chloride ions from the fingerprints can give a rough idea about the age of a
fingerprint.
7. Fingerprints can be transmitted from one country to another, by
telecommunication system.

INTERPRETATION
Pattern area – this is the portion of the finger impression that is to be considered in
interpretation and classification. It is present in all types of fingerprint patterns, but in
plain arch and tented arch, it is impossible to define the pattern area. For classification
purposes, we only need to define loops and whorls.
• The pattern area is commonly found in a loop and a whorl type formation where
the cores and the deltas are present and the ridges have become a focus in
classification.
• The pattern areas of a loop and whorl formation are surrounded by the type lines.

Type lines – these are two innermost ridges which start parallel then diverge, surround,
or tend to surround the pattern.
Figure 3 shows the distinctive loop. Letters A and B are emphasized in this outline. The
type lines, initially run parallel, diverge at C, covering the whole pattern area, as
emphasized in Figure 4, disregarding all the ridges surrounded by the pattern area.

Sometimes, the flow of the type lines is toward two continuous ridges. In the event that
type line is discontinued or broken, the immediate continuation of the flow of the
direction is below the broken ridges (See figure 5.).
Type lines may be short in some patterns. In this case, attention must be given on every
point (See figure 6.).
In locating the type lines, take note of the distinction between a divergence and a
bifurcation (See figure 7.).

A bifurcation is the forking or dividing of one line into two or more branches. A
divergence is the spreading apart of two lines which have been running parallel or
nearly parallel.
Principal points – within the pattern areas of loops and whorls are bounded by the focal
points which are used to categorized. The points are known as delta and core.

Delta – this is a point on a ridge which is sometimes located between the divergence
of two ridges (type lines) and/or nearly the center of the divergence of type lines. It
may be:

• A bifurcation;
• An abrupt ending ridge;
• A dot;
• A short ridge:
• A meeting of two ridges;
• A point on the first recurving ridge located nearest to the center and in front of
the divergence of the type lines.
In figure 9, the point marked “delta” is reflected as the delta since it is the first friction
ridge nearest to the place of divergence of two type lines. If the dot-ridge is absent, the
point B on the ridge C, as presented, will be used as the delta. This would be equally
true whether the ridges were connected with one of the type lines, both type lines, or
broken

altogether. In the figure, with the dot as the delta, ridge C is considered as first ridge
count.

Figures 10 shows the other types and location of the delta in the fingerprint impression,
Rules in Determining the Delta
• Determine first type lines.
• Look for the first ridge formation at or directly in front of the divergence of the type
lines.
• Whenever there is a choice between a bifurcation and some other ridge
formations as the location of the delta, the bifurcation must be the first ridge
formation in front of the divergence of the type lines and it must open toward
the pattern area. Whenever the choice is between two or more ridge
formations other than a bifurcation, the one nearer or nearest to the core is
chosen as the delta.
• Once there is a selection among the two or more potential deltas, the following
rules will prevail:
The delta could not be situated at a bifurcation which did not open near the core (See
Figure 11.).
Once there is a selection among the bifurcation and the other category of delta, the
bifurcation is designated (See Figure 12.).
Once there are two or more of potential deltas that adapt to the description, the one
closer to the core is adapted.

Design patterns are sometimes found in a single ridge which enters the pattern area
with at least two bifurcations opening nearly to the core (see figure 14.). Ridge A
passes in the pattern area that bifurcates at points X and D. The bifurcation at D, which
is nearest to the core, is the delta and adapts the rule for deltas. A – A and B – B are
type lines. A bifurcation which did not adapt to the accepted meaning would not be
reflected as a delta irrespective of its distance from the core.
The delta may not be placed at the center in a ridge which passes among the two
type lines near the core but nearer the end only.

In this situation, the location of delta will depend exclusively at the point of beginning of
the ridge that passes the type lines nearest to the core. Whenever the ridge is totally
surrounded by the pattern area, the delta is situated at the end closer to the point of
divergence of the type lines (See figure 15.).

Once a ridge passes the pattern area starting from a point below the divergence of
the type lines, the delta must be positioned at the end nearer the core. Ridge A in
Figure 16 is of this type.

Core – this is known as the

secondary focal points. It is usually
located approximately at the
center of the finger impression. In
locating the core, the following
rules on choosing the core of a
loop pattern will be strictly
observed:

• The core is positioned upon or

surrounded by the innermost
sufficient recurve.
• When the innermost sufficient recurve
contains no ending ridge or rod rising as high as the shoulders of the loop, the
core is located on the shoulder of the loop farther from the delta (See Figure
17.).
• When the innermost sufficient recurve contains an uneven number of rods rising as
high as the shoulders, the core is located at the end of the center rod whether it
touches on the looping ridge or not.

• When the innermost sufficient recurve contains an even number of rods rising as high
as the shoulders, the core is located at the end of the farther one of the two center
rods, the two center rods , the two center rods being treated as though they were
connected by a recurving ridge (See Figure 18 and 19.).
RULES IN DETERMINING THE CORE

• The innermost recurving ridge does not contain any ending ridge or rod inside, the
core is positioned at the shoulder of the innermost recurving ridge farther from
the delta.
• If the innermost recurving ridge contains a single ending ridge rising as high as the
shoulder of the loop, the core is located at the tip of the ridge engulfed by the
shoulder of the innermost looping ridge (See Figure 19.).
• If the innermost looping ridge contains an even number of ending ridges which
rise as the shoulders of the recurving ridge, the core is located at the tip one of
the two center ridges which is farther from the delta.
• If the innermost recurving ridge contains uneven number of ridges ending which
rise as high as the shoulders, the core is located at the tip of the center ridge. • If
there are two distinct loops in the center of the pattern running side by side as
there is only one delta, the recurving ridges are considered as the innermost
recurving ridge. The core is located at the shoulder of the one that is farther from
the delta (See Figures 20 and 21.).
 Plain arch – This is a type of ridges pattern that
passes on one side of the fingerprint impression,
running or tending to run out at the other side
with a rise or wave in a center. The plain arch is
the simplest type of formation of all fingerprint
patterns (See Figure 22.).

Tented arch – in the tended arch, majority of

the ridges pass one side of the impression and
run or tend to pass out on the other side which
is something similar to the plain arch type; on
the other hand, the ridges at the center do not.
There are three kinds of tented arches (See
Figure 23, 24 and 25.).

• In the first type, the ridges at the center form a define angle (i.e., 90 degree or
less).
• In the second type, one or more of the ridges at the center form an upthrust. An
upthrust is an ending ridge of any length rising at a sufficient degree from the
horizontal plane (i.e., 45 degree or more).
• The third type approaches a loop type, having two of the essential individualities
of the loop but lacking the third.
Figure 26. Frequency Distribution of Fingerprint Pattern of Plain Arch and Tented

Loop – this refers to a type of fingerprint in which one or more of the ridges enter in
either side of the impression, recurve, touch or pass an imaginary line drawn from the
delta to the core, and terminate or tend to terminate on or toward the same side of
the impression from whence such ridge or ridges entered.

In fingerprint, as well as in usual application of the word “loop” there would be no loop
except if there is a recurve or turning back on itself of one or more of the ridges.
However, other factors need to be considered. A pattern must have several requisites
before it may be properly classified as a loop. This type of pattern is the most numerous
of all and constitutes about 65 percent of all prints.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A LOOP

Three Basic Requirements of a Loop

1. Sufficient Recurve
2. Delta
3. Ridge Count – Across a looping ridge

A sufficient recurve may be defined as that part of a recurving ridge between the
shoulders of a loop. It must be free of any appendages abutting upon the outside of the
recurve at a right angle (See Figures 27 and 30).

Figure 27. A sufficient recurve consists of the space between the shoulders of a loop
free of any appendages which abut upon it at a right angle on the outside of the
recurve.

Serious attention should be applied in interpreting appendages because they

sometimes change the shape of the recurving ridge to which they are connected (See
Figures 28 and 29.).

The shoulders of loop are the points at which the recurving ridge definitely turns inward
or curves.
An appendage striking the outside of the recurve at a right angle will spoil that
recurve.

The above patterns show the direction ridges flow if located in the right hand.