ABSTRACT
Technical issues related to automated ngerprint identication systems (AFISs) and associated computer technologies for database searching are important, but they need separate treatment. Such systems, for the extraction of relevant information from a large amount of data, are technical tools that rely on pattern recognition and complex computerized systems outside the scope of this book (see, for example, the book chapters by Komarinski [2005], Maltoni et al. [2009], and Moses [2011]). The operational performance of automated systems and probabilistic models have been the subject of recent research (for example, de Jongh and Rodriguez [2012], Rodriguez et al. [2012], and Haraksim et al. [2015]). Further, the most recent systems include images (mug shots, tattoos, scars) and criminal records, as well as other classical anthropometric features (height, weight, eye, and hair color, etc.). There is a welcome trend to ask more from biometric research and apply it to forensic science issues, and we can expect that AFIS installations will benet from these developments in the near future (Jain and Ross 2015). This includes automatic tattoo recognition and facial recognition of mugshots, surveillance images, or facial composite sketches. Systems were, until recently, devoted to criminal and specic populations only (dened legally, such as crime investigation personnel, military, and emergency services), but they are now becoming part of a universal identication system such as that developed in India (www.uidai.gov.in; accessed January 29, 2016), which has already recorded data from over 870 million individuals with a 12-digit unique identi-cation number based on biometric features in a system called “aadhaar.” The various associated factors (political, legal, ethical), although essential, fall outside the scope of this book, and we focus here on many professional issues that directly affect dactyloscopists in their activities. This includes semantics and terminology, the information content (not simply the identication potential) of friction ridge skin impressions, the relevancy of traces (their age, the potential for forgeries and their detection), identication errors, and training and education requirements for ngerprint specialists. These issues, which are rarely covered in any detail in the general literature, are addressed in this chapter. Some of these issues are difcult to address, and some are controversial, but they are introduced to show that the eld is not stale and that there is room for further discussion and advancement. Many questions raised may not have complete or satisfactory answers, but we hope that the mere fact of raising the issues will prompt relevant research and development efforts.
