Fingerprinting is a method that has long been used by the authorities and other organisations as a means of identification.

The appeal of fingerprinting is that it is an easy system to operate, is used widely around the globe and can 100% accurately identify an individual (contrary to popular opinion, fingerprints are not completely and utterly unique, though the exceptions are down to genetic quirks and are so rare as to be negligible).

Automated

Fingerprints are also easily stored on automated systems, allow quick searches and sharing of information between different bodies.

This has allowed law enforcement groups to have easy access to the fingerprints of possible suspects the world over.

It is estimated that around 5-15% of the world’s population has their fingerprints stored on record.

With computers able to trawl through massive amounts of data in seconds, this gives law enforcement officers a huge advantage in their investigations.

Other identification methods are judged against these qualities and so it would seem that fingerprinting is liable to be the identifier of choice for some time to come, at least until databases of dna become more populated.

Crime Scene

In cases where a full fingerprint is extracted from a crime scene the matching with a suspect, once in custody or prior if their prints are already on record, is a formality.

A full print in association with a set of ten prints taken from the target are rarely, if ever, questioned in a court of law.

Where partial prints are concerned there is obviously some room for error and so it is down to the investigator to then find as many markers on the print as possible to prove a match beyond reasonable doubt.