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Historical Overview of Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (From International Forensic Symposium on Latent Prints -- Proceedings, 1987, Quantico, Virginia, P 51-60, -- See NCJ-113506)

NCJ Number
113513
Author(s)
R M Stock
Date Published
1988
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The development of automated fingerprint systems by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and contributions to the field by researchers in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Canada are reviewed.
Abstract
The history describes the FBI's efforts in the 1960's to develop an automated system that could scan inked fingerprints and the minutiae to detect and record their relative positions and orientations, and match the minutiae from two fingerprints, including the FBI's decision to focus on 10-print identification and other early research on automating latent print searches. Research programs examined include the New York State Information and Identification System, a system developed for the National Police Academy of Japan by the Japanese electronics firm of NEC, and work on latent print searching processes by New Scotland Yard and the London Metropolitan Police. The implementation phase of the FBI's automated system is described, including the automatic classification techniques, production readers, file conversion, and pilot programs. Latent print systems developed by Rockwell International and Calspan Corporation, contributions from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the rapid growth of automated fingerprint identification systems among local and State law enforcement agencies, and federal systems in other foreign countries are also mentioned.