123 School Work

report on fingerprinting

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  Law Project Report: Fingerprints
  
  
  For the law seminar, my group which consisted of Jes McDonald, Meghan Snell, and myself, were very fortunate and were able to research the topic of Forensic Science and how it aids in criminal investigations. Specifically, our group looked at fingerprints, DNA, and autopsies. This research report will look at fingerprints, even more specifically the history of identification, what is a fingerprint, how a fingerprint leaves a mark, dusting for prints at a crime scene, the AFIS system, and how fingerprints are used in court. I also have put five court cases in the appendixes. Two show how fingerprints have identified the victim, and three are how the fingerprints helped to find the perpetrator. None are Canadian cases, but I think that they can give the reader more of an idea of how fingerprints are used, and how influential fingerprints are in court.
  The History of Identification
  Archaeologists have found that the use of fingerprints, as a means of personal identification, was known to the early Egyptians and Chinese. These civilizations used thumb prints to identify criminal confessions, and sometimes to record business transactions. The earliest record in North America of man recognized the uniqueness of finger impressions was in Canada, and was portrayed by an aboriginal Indian picture carved upon the smooth face of a cliff in Nova Scotia. The outline of a hand is covered with two types of lines, regular and parallel...