PERSONAL

IDENTIFICATION
Prof. Govinda Dasi A. Arayata RCrim.,
Fingerprint Examiner 1
National Bureau of Investigation
 HISTORY AND
DEVELOPMENT OF
FINGERPRINTING
 Primitive
Knowledge
EGYPT

The earliest evidence of ridge detail on the hands and feet of

humans was seen in the 4,000 year old mummies of ancient
Egypt. The hands and feet of mummies have been examined on
numerous occasions and they confirmed the presence of ridge
detail on the mummies digits.
CHINA
It was a common practice for the Chinese to use inked
fingerprints on official documents, land scales, contracts, loans
and acknowledgements of debt. Finger seals for sealing
documents to prove its authenticity.

A fingerprint was first used in China before the birth of

Christianity. They called it Hua Chi.
With the advent of silk and paper “hand prints” became the most
common method of ensuring the genuineness of a contract. The right
hand was simply traced or stamped onto a document. The
anthropometric values of hand size and shape, along with a signature,
were often enough to ensure authenticity.
During 1975 in Yuen Ming Country in China, bamboo slips were
found describing a trial reported to have taken place during in Qin
Dynasty (300 B.C). During a thief trial handprint were entered as
evidence.
JAPAN
A Japanese Historian, Kamagasu Minakata further commented about
blood stamping. Apparently, contracts were accompanied by a written
oath confirmed with a blood stamp. The blood stamp was a print of
the ring finger in blood drawn from that digit.
FRANCE

The most famous ancient stone carvings is found in the L’lle de

Gavrinis of the coast of France. Here a burial chamber, or
dolman, was discovered dating back to Neolithis times. Its inner
walls are covered with incised designs systems of horse-shoe
form, more or less circular concentric figures, spiral, arching
lines sinuous and straight lines and other markings occurring in
various combinations. Many anthropologists interpret these
lines as representing finger or palmprint patterns.
NOVA SCOTIA
An outline of a hand was scratched into slate rock beside Kejiomkujil
lake by an original Indian. The carving is an outline of a hand and
fingers. Within the outline the flexion creases of the palm and fingers
are depicted. This carving has considerable historical significance.
Although it does not demonstrate knowledge of the individuality of
friction ridges or palmar flexion creases, it clearly illustrates an early
awareness of the presence of those formations.
BABYLONIA
References by ancient historians have been found describing
how finger seals were used on legal contracts from 1855-1913
B.C. This practice identified the author and protected against
forgery. References dating from the rule of Hammurabi (1792-
1750 B.C) indicate that law officers were authorized to secure
the fingerprints of arrested persons.
PALESTINE
William Frederick Bade, Director of the Palestine Institute of
Archeology, conducted excavations at various sites in Palestine and at
one place found finger imprints on many pieces of broken pottery.
These “identifications” permitted the confused debris to date accurately
to the forth century A.D Commenting on this case, Fingerprint
magazine (1973) stated that “these impressions were obviously
intentional and no doubt, represented the workman’s individual trade
mark.”
HOLLAND AND ANCIENT CHINA
Identification of individuals was by means of branding, tattooing,
mutilation and also manifested by wearing of clothes of different
designs. In earlier civilization, branding an even maiming were used 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.
CONSTANTINOPLE

In treaty ratification, the Sultan soaked his hand in a sheep’s blood and
impressed it on the document as his seal.
 Early Knowledge of Friction Ridge
Individuality
Early pioneers of this friction ridge identification science
were government workers, police officers, or people who
dabbled in friction ridge identification while employed in
related scientific fields. They advanced our knowledge of
friction ridges, applied the friction ridge identification
system to various uses, and devised a coherent classification
system.
THOMAS BEWICK (1753-
1828)
A British author, naturalist and
engraver became England’s finest
engraver who made fingerprint
stamps. He made wooden engravings
of fingerprints and published their
images in his books where he used an
engraving of his fingerprints as a
signature. The engraving demonstrate
familiarity with construction of skin
ridge. In two of the books he added
“Thomas Bewick, his mark” under
the impressions.
SIR WILLIAM J.
HERSCHEL

The English first began using fingerprints in July 1858

when Sir William James Herschel, Chief Magistrate of the
Hooghly District in Jungipoor, India, first used
fingerprints on native contracts. On a whim, and without
thought toward personal identification, Herschel had
Rajyadhar Konai, a local businessman, impress his hand
print on a contract. He is credited as being the First
European to recognize the value of friction ridge points
and to actually use them for identification purposes.
RAJADHAR KONAI
• The first person Herschel printed the palm.
DR. J.C.A MAYER (1788)
GERMANY
(Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer) wrote the book
Anatomical Copper-plates with Appropriate Explanations
containing drawings of friction ridge skin patterns. He
published the following statements in his anatomical atlas;
“Although the arrangement of skin ridges is never
duplicated in two persons, nevertheless the similarities
are closer among some individuals.” In others the
differences are marked yet in spite of their peculiarities of
arrangement all have a certain likeness.” This deduction
was published 100 years before the Konai contract.
Mayer was the first to declare that friction ridge skin is
unique.
DR. HENRY FAULDS (1843-
1930)

In 1875, Faulds had opened a missionary hospital and

a year later started a medical school in Japan where
he may have been exposed to fingerprints. He wrote a
letter to Charles Darwin telling him of his studies and
requesting assistance. He mentioned that fingerprints
can be classified easily and that ridge detail is unique.
He pointed out the value of fingerprinting as being in
“medico legal studies” and commented that
photographs of people change over the years but
rugae (friction ridges) never change.
Faulds also mentioned apprehending criminals
by locating fingerprint at crime scenes.

Both Herschel and Faulds published letters in

“Nature.” Herschel claimed he had used
fingerprints for years in India and offered the
“Hoogly Letter” as documented proof. Faulds
claimed careful study in Japan and to be the
first person to publish notice on the subject in
English literature.
THOMAS TAYLOR (1877)

A microscopist of the Department of Agriculture,

Washington, DC who also suggested that fingerprints
could be used to solve crime.
“Hand Marks under the Microscope- exhibited on a screen
view of the markings of the palms of the hands, and the
tips of the fingers, and called attention to the possibility of
identifying criminals, especially murderers, by comparing
the marks of the hands left upon any object with
impressions in wax taken from the hands of the suspected
persons. In the case of murderers, the marks of bloody
hands would present a very favorable opportunity. This is
a new system of palmistry.”
ALPHONSE BERTILLON (1853-
1914)
He devised the first truly scientific method of
criminal identification in Paris France called
ANTHROPOMETRY or BERTILLIONAGE.
He conceived the idea of using anatomical
measurements to distinguish one criminal from
another. He decided to use various body
measurements such as head length, head breadth,
length of left middle finger, length of the left
cubit (forearm)/ length of left foot, body height,
face breadth, face height and other descriptions
including features such as scars and hair and eye
color to distinguish criminals.
He has been described as one of the
greatest scientists in the 19th Century.
WILL WEST AND WILLIAM WEST CASE

In 1903, Will and William West's fingerprints were

compared at Leavenworth Penitentiary after they were
found to have very similar Anthropometric
measurements.
In this case, there was a coincidence of the similarity of
names and body measurements according to Bertillon
System and similar photo features. It was the
Fingerprints only that proved that WEST in prison and
suspect WEST were different individuals. The
importance of fingerprints came to light from this
notable case of WESTS who were Twin Brothers.
W W
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W T
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DR. HENRY P. DE FOREST

He utilized the first official municipal use of fingerprints for non-

criminal registration on December 19, 1902 in the Municipal Civil
Service Commission in the City of New York. He required civil
service applicants to be fingerprinted to prevent them from having
better qualified persons take tests for them and put the system into
practice.
CAPT. JAMES I. PARKE

He advocated the first state and penal use of

fingerprint which was officially adopted in
Sing-Sing Prison on June 5, 1903 and later at
Auburn, Napanoch and Clinton Penitentiaries.
MAJ R. MCCLOUGHRY

Mccloughry was the Warden of the Federal Penitentiary of

Leavenworth when the office of the Atty. General of the US granted
permission to establish a fingerprint bureau thereon on November 2,
1904. It was the first official National Government use of fingerprints.
MARY K. HOLLAND

She was the first American Instructor in Dactyloscopy.

HARRY MAYERS
II
In 1925, he installed the first official foot and fingerprint system for
infants at the Jewish Maternity Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
USA, the first system in the state.
JUAN (IVAN) VUCETICH (1855-
1925)

Juan Vucetich, an Argentine Police Official, began the first

fingerprint files based on Galton pattern types. At first,
Vucetich included the Bertillon System with the files. The past
pace of the advancement of fingerprinting in England was due
to the ingenuity of Juan Vucetich, who was employed as a
statistician with the Central Police Department at La Plata,
Argentina. In July 1891, the Chief of Police assigned Vucetich
to set up a bureau of Anthropometric Identification. He started
experimenting with fingerprints and set up his own equipment
for taking criminal’s prints.
SIR EDWARD HENRY (1850-
1931)

He was the head of the Scotland Yard in London at

the turn of the 20th century and developed a
classification system for cataloging fingerprints based
on common patterns that are present on each finger.
This became known as the “Henry Classification
System” which he developed in India at the same
time that Vucetic was experimenting with
fingerprinting in America. Today, this Henry system
has been replaced by the computerized worldwide
database of the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint
Identification System)
In 1891, he was appointed Inspector General of Police for
Bengal Province. Upon taking his new post, Henry found
the anthropometric system was being used to identify
criminals.

In India, his course of action was to instruct that all ten

fingers of each prisoner be printed and added to the
anthropometric cards. He assigned two Bengali police
officers to study classification problem.
In 1899 Henry was invited by the British Association for
the advancement of science to present a paper entitled,
“Fingerprints and the Detection of Crime in India.”

In 1918, The Henry Classification System started what is

considered the modern era of fingerprint identification
which is the basis for most of the classification presently
used.
NEW YORK STATE
(1903)
In the New York City Civil Service Commission was using fingerprints to
prevent impersonations. During the same year, fingerprinting was introduced
into the New York Prison System and at Leavenworth Penitentiary. By 1906
there were six (6) police departments in the U.S that were known to be the
taking fingerprints for Identification purposes.
FINGERPRINTING IN CANADA (1904-1920)

In 1904, St Louis, was the site of world’s Fair. A chance meeting took
place that was to bring fingerprinting to Canada and eventually spell
the end of the Bertillon Signaletic System. Detective John Ferrier of
the Scotland Yard was at the fair to guard a display of British crown
jewels. Ferrier and New York State both had displays illustrating
fingerprint identification. During the fair, the International Association
of Chiefs of Police also had a convention and invited Ferrier to present
a paper on fingerprints.
EDWARD FOSTER (1863-
1956)

Edward Foster, policeman, fingerprint pioneer. Foster joined the DOMINION POLICE
as a constable in 1890. While at the St Louis World's Fair in 1904, his interest was
awakened in the controversial science of fingerprint identification. On returning to
Canada, Foster advocated the advantages of fingerprinting over the Bertillon system
(based upon body measurements), and pressed for a central repository of fingerprints.
Promoted to inspector in 1910, his perseverance resulted in the opening of a national
fingerprint bureau in Ottawa the following year. Foster continued to head the bureau after it
was absorbed by the RCMP until his retirement in 1932.

The first conviction in Canada based on fingerprint evidence took place in 1914 Peter
Caracatch and Gregory Parachique broke into the CPR Station in Petawawa, Ontario. They
left fingerprints on glass at the point of entry. Edward Foster gave expert evidence at their
trial.
NEHEMIAH GREW (1641-
1712)
He is an English botanist, physician and microscopist. In
1864, he published a paper in the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society of London describing his
observations of the “Innumerable little ridges of equal big
ness on the ends of the first joints of the fingers.” He
described sweat pores, epidermal ridges, and their various
arrangements. Included in his paper was a drawing of the
configurations of the hand displaying the ridge flow on the
fingers and palms.
 GOVARD BIDLOO
(1685)

He is an anatomist in Amsterdam, Holland who published a

book on Human anatomy illustrating friction ridges and pore
structure on the underside of the fingers. His comments were
morphological in nature and he did not refer to or mention
the individuality of friction ridges.
MARCELLO MALPHIGI (1628-
1694)

He was known as the “Grandfather of Dactyloscopy”

according to Dr. Edmond Locard, the “Father of
Poroscopy.” He originated the terms “loops and spirals.”

A professor in 1685 at the University of Bologna, Italy,

published the results of his examination of the friction
skin with the newly invented microscope.
DR. HANS
GROSS

• an Australian magistrate who described Search for

Truth as the ultimate goal of all investigative and
detective works. He is known as the Father of
Modern Criminalistics.
LOCARD’S EXCHANGE PRINCIPLE

The principle underlying the value of testing associative evidence is that every time
someone enters an environment, something is added to and removed from it.

Named after Dr. Edmond Locard who called physical evidence the “silent witness” and it can
provide valuable information as to the circumstances of a crime.
Edmond Locard in the early 1900’s founded the first forensic science laboratory in Lyon,
France, and his work became one of the foundations of modern-day criminalistics.

He believed that every time two objects come into contact, there is and equal and consistent
exchange that takes place between the two objects.

Edmond Locard 12 point system Wrote that if 12 points (Galton's Details) were the same
between two fingerprints, it would suffice as a positive identification
JOHANNES (JEAN) EVANGELISTA
PURKINJE (1787-1869)

A professor at the University of Breslau, Germany, published

a thesis that contained his studies on the eye, fingerprints and
other skin features entitled, “Commentatio de Examine
Phisiologico Organi Visus et Systematis.” He classified nine
principal configuration groups of fingerprints and assigned
each a name he was known as the “Father of Dactyloscopy.”
ARTHUR KOLLMANN (1883)

The first researcher to address the formation of

friction ridges in embryos and the topographical
physical stressors that may have been part of their
growth. He identified the presence and locations of
the volar pads on the human hand and foot.
 H. KLAATSCH (1888)

From Germany who examined the walking pads and eminences of

several pentadactylous of five fingered mammals. He was credited
being the first researcher to examine the walking surfaces of other
mammals. He also referred to the arrangement of the fundamental
limits of the friction ridges as the reason why all ridge formations
are different.
DAVID HEPBURN (1895)

He is connected with he University of

Edinburgh, Scotland, published a paper on the
similarity in appearance of the eminences or
walking surfaces of primates entitled, “The
Papillary Ridges on the Hands and Feet of
Monkeys and Men.” He was the first to
recognize that ridges assist gripping by creating
friction and that they had a function other than
increasing tactile stimulus.
 INEZ WHIPPLE (1871-1929)

In 1904, he published a paper, “The Vential Surface of the Mammalian Chridium- With Special
Reference to the Conditions Found in Man.” His survey into mammalian palm and sole configurations
has formed an important part of the modern scientific knowledge on the subject and is considered a
landmark in the fields of genetics and ridgeology.
HARRIS HAWTHORNE WILDER (1864-1928)
A professor of zoology at Smith College, Massachusetts that in
1896, while he was studying monkeys, he was struck by the
resemblance of their volar friction ridges to man’s.

In 1918, he published a book “Personal Identification where

the quantitative and qualitative analysis of friction ridges can
be found.”

In this passage, Wilder describes the anatomical formation of

the friction ridges. He further describes how ridge units are
subjected to differential growth and, as a result, all areas of
friction ridge are unique. He was considered the leading
American fingerprint expert of the day.
HARROLD CUMMINS (1893-
1976)
A Ph. D professor of Anatomy and Assistant Dean of the school
of Medicine at Tulane University, Louisiana who spent a great
deal of his life studying dermatoglyphics. In 1943, he co-
authored a book, “Fingerprint, Palms and Soles- An
Introduction to Dermatoglyphics.” with Charles Vidloo.

In 1929, he published a paper, “The Topographic History of the

Volar Pads in the Human Embryo.” He described the formation
and development of volar pads on the human fetus. He
concluded that the physical aspects of the volar pads such as
location, growth differential, and configuration variances
affected friction ridge development and overall pattern
configuration.
 ALFRED HALE (1952)

A Ph. D from Tulane University, an associate of

Cummins, published a thesis in 1952 entitled,
“Morphogenesis of the Volar Skin in the Human Fetus.”
Hale’s paper not only describes the formation of friction
ridges of the human fetus but also describes the
development of friction ridge identification.
 HERMANN WELCKER

• He took his own fingerprints twice with a lapse of forty-one

years and show the ridges formation remains the same.
 FRANCIS GALTON
• He developed the Arch. Loop and Whorl Patterns
as general classification and identified nine (9)
types of pattern. First to establish a Civil Bureau
of Personal Identification. He said that the
possibility of two prints being alike was
1:65,000,000,000.
 Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque and Rai Hem Chandra Bose

• The two Hindu police officers who have

help Henry in attaining his goal.
GILBERT THOMPSON

• A geologist in New Mexico, adopted the first

individual use of fingerprint in august 8, 1882
as a protection to prevent tampering with the
pay order.
 ISAIAH WEST TABOR
• Photographer in San Francisco who advocated the use of the
system for the registration of the immigrant Chinese.
SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS
• An Englishman who informally introduced
Dactyloscopy in the United States in his book “
Life in the Mississippi” and “ Pupp n Head
Wilson”.
 SGT. JOHN KENNETH FERRIER
• First fingerprint instructor at St. Louis Police Dept.
Missouri.
 People vs. Jennings, Dec. 21,
1911
• United States leading case wherein the first conviction based on fingerprint was recognized
by the judicial authorities (14 points).
ROBERT JAMES PITTS

• works on Surgery to forged his own fingerprints and was named “Man without
fingerprint”
 “Law of Multiplicity of Evidence”

• The greater number of similarities or dissimilarities; the greater is the probability for the
conclusion to be correct.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
PHILIPPINE SETTING
 MR. JONES

He was the first to teach fingerprints in the Philippine Constabulary sometime in the year
1900.

The Bureau of Prisons, in the year 1918, records shows that fingerprints already existed in the
“carpetas.”
L. ASA N. DARBY

Under his management during the re-occupation of the Philippines by the American
Forces, a modern and complete Fingerprint File has been established in the Philippine
Commonwealth.
MR. GENEROSO REYES

He was the first Filipino Fingerprint Technician employed by the Philippine

Constabulary.
ISABELA BERNALES

She was the first Filipina Fingerprint Technician.

 CAPT. THOMAS DUGAN

He is from New York City Police Department and Mr. Flaviano G. Guerrero of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, Washington, gave the first examinations for Fingerprint in 1937.
Agustin Patricio of the Philippines. Top the said examination.
 People of the Philippines Vs. Medina

• First conviction base on Fingerprint and leading case decision in the Phil. Jurisprudence (10
points).
LUCILA LALU
• the first Filipina Chop-chop lady who was identified through fingerprint.
 PLARIDEL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION (PEI)

Now the Philippine College of Criminology (PCCr), Manila is the first governmental
recognized school to teach the science of fingerprints and other police sciences.
 WHAT IS
FINGERPRINT?
(Introduction)
Fingerprint, is an impression made by the
papillary ridges on the ends of the fingers and
thumbs. Fingerprints afford an infallible means of
personal identification, because the ridge
arrangement on every finger of every human being
is unique and does not alter with growth or age.
Fingerprints serve to reveal an individual’s true
identity despite personal denial, assumed names, or
changes in personal appearance resulting from age,
disease, plastic surgery, or accident. The practice of
utilizing fingerprints as a means of identification,
referred to as Dactyloscopy, is an indispensable aid
to modern law enforcement.
 Parts of a Finger

Distal Phalanges- are flat on their palmar surface,

small, and with a roughened, elevated surface of
horseshoe form on the palmar surface, supporting the
finger pulp. It is also the bones at the tips of the fingers
or toes.

Middle Phalanges- also known as the intermediate

phalanges, are bones located in the fingers. Each
intermediate phalanx connects to a proximal and distal
phalanx. It has two joints, and allows the finger to bend
in two places.
Proximal phalanges (foot) are the largest
bones in the toe. They form the base of the
toe and are a separate bone from the
middle phalanges (the center bones in the
toes) and the distal phalanges (the bones at
the tip of the toes).
PRINCIPLES INVOLVED
IN THE STUDY OF
FINGERPRINTS
THREE (3) DOGMATIC
PRINCIPLES
I. PRINCIPLE OF INDIVIDUALITY

What does it mean?

It means that, “there are no two fingerprints that are

exactly alike.” We have our own individual characteristics.

Example, TWINS.
II. PRINCIPLE OF CONSTANCY
OR PERMANENCY

What does it mean?

It means that, “the configuration and details of

individual ridges remain constant and
unchanging.” It will remain unchanged.
 III. PRINCIPLE OF INFALLIBILITY

What does it mean?

It means that, “Fingerprint evidence is reliable. The reasons why fingerprint is one of the infallible
means of personal identification.”

Fingerprints are already formed about 3 to 4 months of intra-uterine life and remain unchanged
throughout life until the final decomposition of the body after death.
 Admissibility of fingerprint expert
testimony:

Expert testimony as to the identity of thumb marks of fingerprints is admissible. The method of
identification of a person by correspondence of fingerprints has been widely recognized as a relatively
accurate system of establishing identity and it is well settled that evidence of the correspondence of
fingerprints, when testified by a qualified witness is ADMISSIBLE to establish the identity of the
accused in criminal prosecution as the person committing the crime charged.
 Purpose

The ultimate purpose of fingerprints is to provide the most positive means of personal and criminal
identification.
 FRICTION SKIN

• Friction Skin - Is an epidermal hairless skin found on the ventral or lower surface of the
hands and feet, covered with minute ridges and furrows and without coloring matters or
pigment which means this are strips of the skin on the end joints of our fingers and
thumb by which fingerprints are made. It is also called as papillary or epidermal
ridges.
FUNDAMENTAL LAYERS OF THE
FRICTION SKIN
 Friction Skin
1. Epidermal Layer (Epidermis)- It is the outermost of the
three layers that make up the skin, the inner layers being the
dermis and hypodermis.[1] The epidermis layer provides a
barrier to infection from environmental pathogens

a. Stratum Corneum- It consists of 25-30 layers of stratified

(layered) squamus (flattened) dead keratinocytes (skin cells)
that are constantly shed.

b. Stratum Lucidum- It is present in thick skin (lips, soles of

feet, and palms of hands). Little or no cell detail is visible.
c. Stratum Granulosum- It consist 3-4 layers of cell
thick consisting of flattened keratinocytes. At this
level, the cells are dying.

d. Stratum Spinosum- These are several layers

thick, consisting mostly of keratinocytes. Together
with the stratum basale, it is sometimes referred to
as the Malpighian Layer (living layer.)

e. 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.
2. Dermis- The primary function is to sustain and
support the epidermis. It is made up of connective
tissue with fine elastic fibers. It is the layer of skin
that lies beneath the epidermis and above the
subcutaneous layer. It is the thickest layer of the skin,
and is made up of fibrous and elastic tissue.

Dermal Papillae- the

region between the
dermis and the
epidermis is
responsible for the
ridge patterns on the
surface of the skin.
(Fisher, Tilstone,
Woytovicz, 2009).
 Importance of knowing the two layers of the skin:

Damage to the epidermis alone does not result to permanent ridge destruction, while damage to the
dermis will result to permanent ridge destruction.
 Can fingerprints be effaced or
erased?

John Dillinger, a notorious gangster and a police character attempted to erase his fingerprints by burning
them with acid, but as time went by, the ridge were again restored to their natural feature. The acid he
applied temporarily destroyed the epidermis of the bulb of the finger.

As long as the dermis of the bulbs of the fingers are not completely destroyed, the fingerprints will
always remain unchanged and indestructible.
 Can fingerprint be
forged?

Various experiments were conducted by authorities and although they could almost make an accurate
reproduction, still there is no case on record known or have been written that forgery of fingerprints has
been a complete success.
 Example:

The first recorded case is that of a man who inadvertently sliced off a patch skin form the thenar
eminence. Immediately, he restored this piece to the raw surface and applied bandage. The slip of the
skin engrafted itself and the ridges were preserved.
Important Terms
1. Fingerprint as an impression. it is the reproduction
on some smooth surface of the pattern or design formed
by the ridges on the inside of the end joint of the fingers
and thumb, through the medium of ink or any coloring
substance capable of producing visibility.
2. Fingerprint as a science. It is the identification
of a person by means of the ridges appearing on the
fingers, on the palms and on the soles of the feet.
3. Palm Print- The impression or reproduction left on
any material by the friction skin of the palms.

4. Footprint/toe print- the impression or reproduction

left on any material by the friction skin of the foot/ feet
or toe/toes.
5. Friction Skin- the skin on inner hands and fingers,
and on the bottom of the feet and toes, which is
characterized by alternating strips raised ridges and
furrows arranged in a variety of patterns.

6. Furrow- that portion of the skin lower and between

the ridges.
7. Friction Ridge- the raised portion of the skin that leaves
the impression or reproduction.

8. Dactyloscopy- it is the identification of a person through

the examination and comparison of fingerprints. It is also the
classification of fingerprints.

A Greek term to translate as “to view the fingers.”

Friction
Derived from the Latin words: Ridge
Dactyl - means finger; and
Skopien – to study or examine.
9. Dactylography- it is the process of analyzing
fingerprints.

A greek term that translate as “finger writing.”

10. Dermatoglyphics- A Latin term that translates
as “skin carving.”

11. Forensic Science- this includes relating to or

dealing with the application of scientific
knowledge to legal problems.
12. Identification- In forensic science is simply answering
the question “what is it?” while Individualization is the
uniqueness of an object to the execution of all other objects
like itself. Ex. “What kind of salt is it?”
13. Exemplars. These are objects that are commonly
encountered in investigations or the possible real object that
created the evidence.

14. Dactylomancy – is the scientific study of fingerprint for

purposes of personality interpretation.
Criminalistics

• It is the application of the principles of various sciences in solving problems in

connection with the administration of justice.
• Also referred to as Forensic Science or Police Science.
• The word forensic was derived from the Latin word “Forum” which means a “market
place”, a place where people gathered for “public discussion”. When it is used in
conjunction with other sciences it simply connotes the idea of application to law or for the
administration of justice. Sometimes it is also referred to as “legal”.
 RELATED SCIENCES IN THE STUDY OF
FINGERPRINT

• Chiroscopy
• Derived from the Greek words:
• Kheir – means a hand; and
• Skopien – means to examine
• Chiro – Latin word
• Is the science which deals with the study of the prints of the palms of the hand.
 RELATED SCIENCES IN THE STUDY OF
FINGERPRINT

• Podoscopy
• Derived from the Greek words:
• Podo – means the foot; and
• Skopien – to examine.
• Is the science which deals with the study of the footprints.
 RELATED SCIENCES IN THE STUDY OF
FINGERPRINT

• Poroscopy
• Derived from the Greek words:
• Poros – means a pore, and
• Skopien – to examine
• Is the scientific study of the arrangement of the sweat pores.
• the study of the configuration, size, and relative position of the pores in human skin, which are the
external openings of the sebaceous and sweat glands. Together with dactyloscopy and palm print
identification, it is used in criminalistics for purposes of identification.
• Edmond Locard- Father of Poroscopy
 RELATED SCIENCES IN THE STUDY OF
FINGERPRINT

• Edgeoscopy
• Is a method of identification through the examination of the unique details and
characteristics found along the edges of individual fingerprint ridges. These
characteristics are the result of the alignment and shape of the individual ridge units
and the relationship between them, as well as the effects of pores that are close to the
edge of the ridges.. The method was pioneered by Salil Chatterjee in 1962, who created
it while researching the possibility of a new criminal identification method.
 ANTHROPOMETRY

• IT COMES FROM GREEK WORD “ANTHROS” MEANING MAN AND METRE

MEANING “TO MEASURE”
• is the science of obtaining systematic measurements of the human body. Anthropometry first
developed in the 19th century as a method employed by physical anthropologists for the study
of human variation and evolution in both living and extinct populations. It involves the size
(e.g., height, weight, surface area, and volume), structure (e.g., sitting vs. standing height,
shoulder and hip width, arm/leg length, and neck circumference), and composition (e.g.,
percentage of body fat, water content, and lean body mass) of humans.
 BERTILLON ANTHROPOMETRIC SYSTEM

• This system uses the physical measurements of body parts, primarily that of the head and face In
order to produce a detailed description of an individual. This was invented in 1879 by Alphonse
Bertillon and was dubbed as the BERTILLON SYSTEM, OR ‘BERTILLONAGE’.
 Photographs or ‘Portrait parle’

• Portrait parle
• This two French words means “speaking likeness”
• Portrait parle can be defined as a rigorous system for
verbal description of physical characteristics of the
subject. It is based on the Bertillon method of criminal
identification by measurements of the human body and
is still in practice today to some extent.
• A distinctive description of every feature of the face and
head are especially valuable for investigation, especially
when a set of the suspect’s fingerprints is not available
in his file.
 Photographs or ‘Portrait Parle’

• This is another feature of the Bertillon

system wherein the subject was
“photographed full face” together with
different shots of his full profile. He is also
made to hold his registry number. This is
the precursor of the modern day mug shot
and it is still widely used today (greene,
2007, p.92)
 Forensic odontology
• Forensic- forum means “court of law”
• Odontology- study of teeth
• Branch of forensic sciences which deals with
collecting, preserving, recording and
interpretation of dental evidence at the interest
of court of law to offer law enforcement.
• This pertains to the proper collection,
interpretation, evaluation as well as presentation
in court of dental evidence during the conduct
of criminal and civil proceedings (rai and kaur,
2013)
 Forensic serology

• This refers to the scientific analysis of

blood and other bodily fluids as evidence
during the conduct of a criminal
investigation (newton, 2007)
 DACTYLOSCOPY
• The study of fingerprints or the science of fingerprint
identification.
• Dactyloscopy relies on the analysis and classification of
patterns observed in individual prints. Fingerprints are made
of series of ridges and furrows on the surface of a finger; the
loops, whorls, and arches formed by those ridges and furrows
generally follow a number of distinct patterns. Fingerprints
also contain individual characteristics called “minutiae,” such
as the number of ridges and their groupings, that are not
perceptible to the naked eye. The fingerprints left by people
on objects that they have touched can be either visible or
latent. Visible prints may be left behind by substances that
stick to the fingers—such as dirt or blood or they may take
the form of an impression made in a soft substance, such as
clay.
• Pertains to the “detection, comparison, and identification of
finger impressions” (champed, et. Al 2005, p.182)
 DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)

• This was first reported by the English geneticist, Alec

Jeffreys, who noted that certain DNA sequences were
repeated over and over again next to each other in certain
DNA regions. He also discovered that the number of
repeated sections could differ from one individual to
another. These DNA repeat regions were called “variable
number of tandem repeats or vntrs” dr. Jeffreys was able to
develop a technique to examine the vntrs known as
restriction fragment length polymorphism or rflp (butler,
2010, p. 25)