Explanation of Characteristics on a fingerprint

Core-The approximate center of a pattern

Bifurcation-The point at which one friction ridge divides into two friction ridges.

Enclosure-A single friction ridge that bifurcates and rejoins after a short course and continues as
a single friction ridge.

Delta-That point on a ridge at or nearest to the point of divergence of two type lines, and located at or directly in front of the point of divergence.

Ending Ridge-A single friction ridge that terminates within the friction ridge structure.

Clean Delta-A term popularized by Ron Smith to describe the delta in the interdigital area that is below the index finger. The angles of this delta are usually evenly spaced. This is referred to as the 'clean delta' because it is usually the clearest and most legible.

Arch - plain-A fingerprint pattern in which the ridges enter on one side of the impression, and flow, or tend to flow, out the other with a rise or wave in the center.

Arch - tented-A type of fingerprint pattern that possesses either an angle, an upthrust, or two of the three basic characteristics of the loop.

Loop - Radial-A type of pattern in which one or more ridges enter upon either side, recurve, touch or pass an imaginary line between delta and core and pass out, or tend to pass out, on the same side the ridges entered. The flow of the pattern runs in the direction of the radius bon of the forearm (toward the thumb).

Loop - Ulnar-A type of pattern in which one or more ridges enter upon either side, recurve, touch or pass an imaginary line between delta and core and pass out, or tend to pass out, on the same side the ridges entered. The flow of the pattern runs in the direction of the ulna bone of the forearm (toward the little finger).

Whorl - Accidental-A fingerprint pattern consisting of two different types of patterns, with the exception of the plain arch, with two or more deltas; or a pattern which possesses some of the requirements for two or more different types; or a pattern which conforms to none of the definitions.

Whorl - Central Pocket Loop-A type of fingerprint pattern which has two deltas and at least one ridge which makes, or tends to make, one complete circuit, which may be spiral, oval, circular, or any variant of a circle. An imaginary line drawn between the two deltas must not touch or cross any recurving ridges within the inner pattern area.

Whorl - Double Loop-A type of fingerprint pattern that consists of two separate loop formations with two separate and distinct sets of shoulders and two deltas.

Whorl - Plain-A type of fingerprint pattern which consists of one or more ridges which make, or tend to make, a complete circuit, with two deltas, between which, when an imaginary line is drawn, at least one recurving ridge within the inner pattern area is cut or touched.

Latent Print -Transferred impression of friction ridge detail not readily visible; generic term used for questioned friction ridge detail.

Latent Print Recovery Conditions-Whether or not a latent is recovered is dependant on:
1. The surface (substrate):
a) Its physical composition,
b) Its texture,
c) Condition,
d) and cleanliness.
2. The person touching the item:
a) The condition of their ridges (which could be affected by medical condition or occupation),
b) how much they sweat (which is dependant on age, diet, temperature, emotional state, medical condition and the recent amount of physical exertion),
c) And the pressure they apply.
3. Whether or not there is a transferable substance on the friction skin other than sweat.4. Post transfer conditions:
a) The environment (heat or rain will deteriorate a latent),
b) How it's handled (handling and packaging may destroy a latent)
c) and the developing medium.

Level 1 detail-Friction ridge flow and general morphological information.

Level 2 detail-Individual friction ridge paths and friction ridge events, e.g. bifurcations, ending ridges, dots.

Level 3 detail-Friction ridge dimensional attributes, e.g., width, edge shapes and pores.

Lift-An adhesive or other medium on which recovered friction ridge detail is preserved.

Bracelet Creases-The creases located at the base of the palm. Usually where the friction skin ends

Bridge-A connecting friction ridge between and at generally right angles to parallel running ridges.

Branchings-Friction ridge bifurcation; divergence of a friction ridge path.

Bulb of the Fingers (Thumbs, Toes)-The portion of the friction skin on the tips of fingers, thumbs, or toes in the distal phalanx, from one side of the nail to the opposite side of the nail.

Characteristics-Features of the friction ridges. Commonly referred to as minutia(e), Galton detail, point, feature, ridge formation, ridge morphology.

Characteristics, types of:
Ending ridge
Fork or birfurcation
Island
Dot
Bridge
Spur
Double birfurcation
Trifurcation
Short ridge

Class Characteristics-Characteristics used to put things into groups or classes, e.g., arches, loops, whorls.

ClassificationAlpha/numeric -formula of finger and palm print patterns used as a guide for filing and searching.

Structure of Friction Skin

Cross-section of Friction Skin

Thick skin (which includes friction skin) has two principle layers:

The Epidermis (E) is stratified (layered), squamous (flat) epithelial tissue 5 layers thick and...

The Dermis is much thicker than the epidermis and consists of two layers - the Papillary layer (DPL) an area of loose connective tissue extending up into the epidermis as dermal pegs (DP) and the deeper reticular layer (DRL).




Stratum corneum - consists of 25-30 layers of stratified (layered) squamous (flattened) dead keratinocytes (skin cells) that are constantly shed.
Stratum lucidum - is present only in thick skin (lips, soles of feet, and palms of hands). Little or no cell detail is visible.
Stratum granulosum - 3-4 layers of cell thick consisting of flattened keratinocytes. At this level the cells are dying.
Stratum spinosum - several layers thick, consisting mostly of keratinocytes. Together with the stratum basale it is sometimes referred to as the Malpighian layer (living layer).
Stratum basale - a single layer of cells in contact with the basement membrane. These cells are mitotically active - they are alive and reproducing - the reason why it is often referred to as the generating layer. Four types of cells are present in this layer:
Keratinocytes (90%) - responsible for waterproofing and toughening the skin
Melanocytes (8%) - synthesize the pigment melanin which absorbs and disperses ultraviolet radiation
Tactile cells - very sparse and function in touch reception
Nonpigmented granular dendrocytes - cells that ingest bacteria and foreign debris.


The primary function of the dermis is to sustain and support the epidermis.
The papillary layer (DPL) is made up of connective tissue with fine elastic fibres. The surface area of this layer is increased by the dermal papillae (DP). These fingerlike formations greatly increase the surface area for the exchange of oxygen, nutrients and waste products between the dermis and the epidermis.



The boundary between the dermis and epidermis is a point of potential weakness where the two tissues may be separated from each other. The fingerlike formations (or interdigitation) also serve to strengthen the epidermis/dermis junction.
As one ages the dermal papillae tend to flatten and may increase in numbers. In this situation, each papilla appears to develop into a group...staying at the same overall size but individually much smaller.



Sweat glands, or eccrine glands, are found over the entire surface of the body except a few small areas. They are most concentrated in the palms and soles of the feet. The eccrine sweat glands in this skin section are well developed, and their ducts (dark staining) can be distinguished from the lighter staining secretory portions.
They are simple coiled tubular glands; they consist of a highly coiled secretory portion deep in the dermis, and a relatively straight duct conducts the secretions toward the surface of the epidermis. Each duct opens in the centre of the ridge "unit" (cristae cutis).
Eccrine sweat contains approximately 99% water and 1% solids. The solids are half inorganic salt (mostly sodium chloride) and organic compounds (amino acids, urea and peptides).


Photos and information came from the following website:
http://www.ridgesandfurrows.homestead.com/friction_skin.html

Why Fingerprint Identification

(From a handout given in class)

Fingerprints offer an infallible means of personal identification. That is the essential explanation for their having supplanted other methods of establishing the identities of criminals reluctant to admit previous arrests. Other personal characteristics change. Fingerprints do not.

In earlier civilizations branding and even maiming wereused to mark the criminal for what he was. The thief was deprived of the hand which committed the thievery. The Romans employed the tattoo needle to identify and prevent desertion of mercenary soldiers.

More recently law enforcement officers which extraordinary visual memories, so called "camera eyes" identified old offenders by sight. Photography lessened the burden on memory but was not the answer to the criminal identification problem. Personal appearances change.

Around 1870 a French anthropologist devised a system to measure and record the dimensions of certain bony parts of the body. These measurements were reduced to a formula which, theoretically, would apply only to one person and would not change during his adult life.

This Bertillion System, named after its inventor, Alphonse Bertillion, was generally accepted for thirty years, but it never recovered from the events of 1903. That was the year a man named Will West was sentenced to the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.

Criminal Investigations 1

This class started off a little slow, reading through the class schedule and policies. Though when we first entered the room Mr. Clark had a slide show going of past cases he had worked on. They were not something most people would enjoy to see. They were all photos of people that had been killed one way or another. Mr. Clark had mentioned if it bothered anyone or if anyone was not interested in learning anything that had to do with this, they could feel free to leave the class right then and there and drop it and/or change their major. I didn't care so much about the pictures, being the nosey girl that I am I wanted to know the story behind each photo, why did they die, who did it, how was it done? Well we are not going to get into that just yet. But I will begin with what we began with. That is Fingerprinting.

History of Fingerprinting
(From a handout)
As far back as the eighth century (A.D) the T'ang Dynasty refer to the use of fingerprints being impressed upon business contracts. The following is a brief development of how fingerprints have shaped modern law Enforcement.

1880's- Sir Francis Galton, a noted British anthropologist, began observations which led to the publication, in 1892, of his book "Finger Prints." Galton's studies established the individuality and permanence of fingerprints. He also devised the first scientific method of fingerprint classification.

1892-The first installation of fingerprint files as an official means of criminal identification. Juan Vucetich, an Argentinian police official, base his system on the patterns by Sir Francis Galton. He also claimed the first official criminal identification by means of fingerprints left at a crime scene.

A woman who had murdered her two songs and cut her own throat, though not fatally (in 1892), blamed the attacks on a neighbor. Bloody fingerprints found on a doorpost were identifid by Vucetich as those of the woman herself and led to her confession.

1901-Marked the official introduction of fingerprinting for criminal identification in England and Wales. The system employed was also developed from Galton's observations and was devised by Mr.-later Sir- Edward Henry, then Inspector General of Police. He later served as Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police. Henry simplified fingerprint classification and made it applicable to police identification. His system and that devised by Vucetich form the basis of all modern ten finger fingerprint identification systems. It is the basic HENRY SYSTEM, with modifications and extensions, which is used by the FBI and throughout the United States today.

1924-On July 1, 1924, Congress established the Identification Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The fingerprint record of the National Bureau of Criminal Identification, The Leavenworth Penitentiary and the St. Louis Police Department, were consolidated to form the nucleus of the FBI files.

Criminal Justice

Well I have not posted much in awhile because I have been busy with school. After graduating high school in 2002, I decided to attend MVCC for Nursing. After one semester I realized that just was not for me. The second semester I changed my major to Social Services. I did alright. I then changed my mind again and wanted to double major in Social Services and Business Management. That did not go to well. After taking approx. 1 year off from school to work and catch up on some bills I decided to re-enroll at MVCC to try and get my degree in Social Services. I was doing well in school. But the life I was living there was not. I had a very mean land-lord who treated my room mate and I like slaves. We were dirt to them. Not so much as, do the dishes, etc. But after moving in, said our chairs were to loud on the floor? How is that possible? The television was to loud...The radio was to loud, we were not allowed to have guests over unless we had their permission, we went from parking in the drive way to having to park across the street and paying rent to park! My room mate and I payed our land lord the money for parking and because they did not give it to the people in time that we were renting from, they super glued notes to every window of our cars. It was just a disaster. After a little mishap with the police, I packed up and moved out the next day. I took some time off again. During that time, I was job-hopping, not to exciting. I realized how much it really sucked not being able to have room for advancement at my jobs because of my lack of college experience. Minimum wage just wasn't cutting it for me. So I decided to research some schools and majors I would be interested in and try to re-enroll in school again. After talking to a friend about what she was doing with her life, she mentioned she had enrolled in online classes at HCCC. I kept that thought in my head. I went home and did a little research on the college and found a major that just rang my bell. Criminal Justice-Forensic Investigations. Most people think of the tv show CSI, to be honest with you, I've only seen one episode of the show, and yes it is very similar to that. I applied to HCCC and was accepted. HOORAY! I enrolled in some online classes for my first semester and loved them. I then took a couple of summer classes to help catch up. I am now in my second semester and am taking 3 online classes and have 2 labs and 2 lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the college. I dont mind the commute it takes just a little over a hour to get there. Going the speed limit, I'm sure it would take a little longer. But anyways, I absolutley love my major and just cant get enough of it. I must also say this school is so much cleaner, and much more professional than the first I had attended. I have the same teacher right now for my labs, lectures and one of my online classes. Mr. Lynton Clark. He is an amazing guy. After all the different agencies he has worked for, I must say he really knows his stuff. (For example, he was on a television show on Court television for a case he helped solve in 1979. I will get back to you with the name of the show. But the case on the television was called Blood Money.) I am so glad I am in his class.

Well now that you have the basic info. on my college life, I would like to share with you everything I learn from a couple of my classes this semester, in hopes that you may find this just as interesting as I do.