MALFID DUPLICATES WITH ELECTRONICS AND COMPUTERS A TRAINED FINGERPRINT EXAMINER'S PROCEDURES. THE SYSTEM IS PROGRAMMED TO RECOGNIZE MANY IDENTIFYING MARKS AND PATTERNS ON A FINGERPRINT, AND TO COMPARE THEM WITH KNOWN PRINTS FILED IN ITS MEMORY. THE DEGREE OF FIT BETWEEN A LATENT AND FILED PRINT IS GIVEN A NUMERICAL SCORE; LISTS OF LIKELY CANDIDATES ARE THEN RELEASED TO EXAMINERS FOR A FINAL DECISION. MALFID WAS DEVELOPED AS AN EFFICIENT AND TIME-SAVING SYSTEM OF PROCESSING THE VERY LARGE QUANTITY OF PRINTS BEING LIFTED AT CRIME SCENES BY POLICE. MALFID IS LINKED WITH LABORATORY AND INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES BUT IS NOT USED AT PRECINCTS TO IDENTIFY FINGERPRINTED ARRESTEES. ALTHOUGH THE SYSTEM IS ORIENTED TOWARD IDENTIFYING LATENT PRINTS RATHER THAN IDENTIFYING SUSPECTS THROUGH CARDS OF PRINTS TAKEN BY POLICE, IT DOES PROCESS 10-PRINT CARDS. MALFID PRESENTLY STORES FINGERPRINT DATA ON 305,000 PERSONS AND CAN IDENTIFY AS MANY AS 150 BITS OF INFORMATION FOR EACH OF THE FIRST THREE FINGERS OF THE HAND. HIGH-SPEED PROCESSORS CAN MAKE 200-250 FINGERPRINT COMPARISONS PER SECOND. THE ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENTS AND STATE CRIME LABORATORIES CURRENTLY SHARE THE SYSTEM WHICH HAS HAD SOME ORGANIZATIONAL DIFFICULTIES. IDENTIFICATION OF 10-PRINT CARDS IS FAST AND ACCURATE, BUT LATENT PRINT IDENTIFICATION NEEDS IMPROVEMENTS. (PAP)