How to Improve Outcomes in the Comparison of Known and Unknown Fingerprint Images

It is a known fact that it is more difficult to capture and compare ink fingerprints with latent prints and previously captured ink fingerprints, especially if the captured print was of poor quality to begin with. Based on a report by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, their rejection rate was as high as 33% when trying to match ink fingerprint records against their Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). This rejection rate is much improved by using livescan fingerprinting equipment that captures and submits fingerprint records electronically. The problem is, these systems are traditionally too costly for crime scene investigators and investigators working for district and county attorneys.

When you have marginal prints to begin with and you are trying to match a newly created fingerprint record captured with ink that may be marginal too, the process for the investigator to compare one record to the other manually can be extremely time consuming and costly. Granted, not all fingerprinting technicians capture bad prints. Those who have been ink fingerprinting for many years using best practices are artisans and capture high quality ink prints. But, fingerprinting is not the investigators' primary duty. Investigators are searching for ways to make their job easier and more productive and one way to do that is to make the fingerprinting process easier, faster and cleaner.

We developed FingerSCAN ePrintsID for just this purpose. This is a low cost solution that includes an application that runs on Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. You may be able to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). The iOS version is not available yet, but the Android version can be downloaded from the Google Play store. The app can be downloaded for free for 15 days, but you won't be able to evaluate the fingerprinting functionality without the scanner.

The image quality is excellent and the entire fingerprinting process is very easy and very clean. Furthermore, the app generates a fingerprint card automatically that you can print out to aid your comparison process. Fingerprint images are stored individually and can be shared via email, secure FTP and uploaded to your computer via USB connection (Android).

One added benefit that FingerSCAN ePrintsID has that ink fingerprinting does not is that FingerSCAN ePrintsID can be used as a field application, which would allow known prints to be taken in the field and then immediately shared with a remote identification unit to aid in the crime scene investigation process.

To see an example of FingerSCAN ePrintsID, please visit: https://bit.ly/2CCPeap

For answers to your questions, please contact us at info@wovois.com or call 800.355.1415.

#eliminationfingerprinting #fingerprintcapturemethods #digitalfingerprintingsolutions #inklessfingerprintingsolutions #knownprintcapturemethods #exemplarfingerprintingmethods #mobilefingerprinting #mobileforensics #fingerprintingjumpkit #WatsonMinifingerprintscanner