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Clue |
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Materials
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Fingerprints are an important part of police identification. In order for a positive identification to be determined, two prints must have the same general pattern and a certain number of ridge characteristics that match. Currently, the main problem with fingerprint identification is that there is no Canadian standard as to what this number of matching characteristics must be. This makes cases which depend on fingerprint matches less reliable, compromising the safety of the defendant on trial in the case of a misidentification. The purpose of this experiment was to develop a system of assigning a quantitative quality to each fingerprint lift regarding clarity, detail of the ridges and the possibility of a positive match in order to create a standard for fingerprint identification in court cases. The effectiveness of this system was tested for fingerprints developed and lifted comparing the developing technique used (type of powder or chemical), the item material, the surface of the item (smoothness and curvature) and the room the item would be found in. All of the items used were chosen from the rooms found in the “Clue” game. A quality number from one through ten was assigned to each fingerprint lift in order to compare the lifts quantitatively. Every print that could effectively be used in identification was given a quality of above five, and those that could not be used for identification were given a number below five. A Quantitative Fingerprint Evaluation System (QFES) was developed and used to assign quality numbers to all of the fingerprint lifts. All of the results found when comparing the variables seemed to be reasonable, thus supporting this system. The QFES was effective for turning a qualitative fingerprint lift quality into a quantitative evaluation so that the lifts could be compared with each other and used as a standard for fingerprint identification validity in court cases.
Julia Frenette |
