Tidbitsvernon 199 nov 14 2014 fingerprints

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Nov 14-20, 2014 Issue #00199

TIDBITS® EXAMINES

FINGERPRINTSby Janet Spencer

On November 2, 1904, the use of fingerprints began in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas, and the St. Louis Police Department. They were assisted by a Sergeant from Scotland Yard who had been on duty at the St. Louis World’s Fair Exposition guarding the British display. Shortly afterwards, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) created America’s first national fingerprint repository, called the National Bureau of Criminal Identification. Come along with Tidbits as we examine fingerprints!

FINGERPRINT FACTS• In some cultures criminals were identified by

amputating an ear or finger, or by blinding an eye or cutting the tongue. Egyptians extracted teeth of criminals for ID purposes, and in medieval Europe they were branded like cattle— a practice that continued in China until 1905. Today we identify criminals through fingerprints.

FINGERPRINT FILE• Fingerprints form about 4 months before

birth. We have fingerprints (as well as hand and foot prints) in order to increase traction. The ridges increase friction against surfaces. Foot and hand prints are just as unique as fingerprints.

(Continued next page)

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• There may be 300 ridges on the skin between fingertips and wrist. There are millions of sweat pores between the ridges, which exude a nearly invisible mixture that’s 99% water and 1% fatty acid. Everything you touch is covered with this residue. The water will evaporate, but the fat remains. Fingerprints are still intact and readable on ancient mummies.

• In ancient China, emperors used thumbprints to sign state papers. Artists used fingerprints on pictures instead of signatures. But the fact that every human being carries a signature on their fingertips wasn’t put to use in police work until William Herschel became interested in 1860. At that time, he was working for the British government in India. He handled the payment of pensions to retired people. But frequently one person would collect his money, and then later someone using the same name would show up to collect it again. Herschel couldn’t keep track of the many people he dealt with— so he started having everyone sign for their money with a thumbprint. The fraud stopped immediately, but it was decades before fingerprints came into play where crime solving was concerned.

• In 1892 a detective was called to a scene where two young children had been murdered. The mother accused an old man who lived nearby. He proclaimed his innocence. The policeman found a bloody handprint on the door. He called the old man to the scene, and had him place an inked handprint on a piece of paper. The prints didn’t match. Next he had the mother of the children do the same— and the prints matched. She had murdered her own kids because the man she loved wouldn’t marry her as long as she had children. This is the first recorded instance of fingerprints being used to solve a crime.

• Scotland Yard began using fingerprint evidence in 1901. Since then, fingerprint evidence has solved innumerable crimes.

• For many decades, each police department kept its own collection of fingerprints on file. Any police department with a suspicious person in custody sent copies of fingerprints to each police department individually, and each police department searched through their files manually. It was a time-consuming and inefficient process. Congress established the FBI’s Identification Division in 1924 to be the central repository for all fingerprint records. Now known as the Criminal Justice Information Services Division, the bureau employs around 3,000 people and is the largest branch of the FBI. Currently the FBI has over 234 million fingerprints on file representing over 81 million people. Of the millions of sets of fingerprints in FBI files, none have ever been found to match.

• In 1999, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) went into

operation. IAFIS stores over 51 million digital prints and compares them within minutes, pulling up a list of potential matches along with their criminal histories. State and local law enforcement agencies transmit fingerprint information to the system electronically, and get identification within a few hours.

FINDING FINGERPRINTS• There are several methods of finding

fingerprints. One of the most common methods is called iodine fuming. In the late 1800s it was found that iodine fumes, when they come into contact with body fats and oils, will react with them in a way that makes them visible. To accomplish this, iodine crystals are put into a beaker and heated, which produces a purple gas.

• When an object thought to have fingerprints on it is held over iodine vapor, the vapor crystalizes where it comes into contact with fats and oils, defining the lines of the print. The print is then photographed, and specialized filters on the camera will make the print even more visible. Iodine fuming is good at lifting

prints from rubber gloves.• Another method used silver nitrate and

ninhydrin as dusting powders. Ninhydrin reacts to the amino acids in human sweat, causing them to become visible. Silver nitrate combines with trace amounts of body salts to form sodium chloride. The print can then be lifted with a sticky tape, and then photographed. Ninhydrin and silver nitrate, used together, can reveal prints left on porous surfaces such as paper or wood.

• A third method involves the use of superglue. In the early 1980s a British policeman was

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• If you heat a pita in the microwave first, it will be easier to open and will rip less. About 10 seconds should do. ‘

• Two ways to remove a bandage: Rub a little baby oil or vegetable oil over it. The oil will soak in and make it easier to remove. Or - and this works especially well with kids -- have them soak in the bath and use baby shampoo to soften the sticky edges.

• I use double-stick tape to hang lighter items on my walls, since it does not leave a hole, and I am a renter. You also can use it to reduce noise from vibrations. For instance, I used it in my car to keep the carpet lying flat in the trunk. ‘

• I have said this before, but I’m happy to give a reminder with the holidays coming up and possibly new cellular technology in your family’s future: Many of us have found ourselves with old cellphones that still work, but don’t have the features we want. If you get a new phone, donate your old one. There are groups that refurbish the phones and give them to domestic violence victims for emergency purposes. Other groups send the phones back into use in the developing world. Any way you recycle your phone is a benefit to the environment. Check with www.donateaphone.org, www.collectivegood.com or Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine.

Famous Canadians

BRIAN DALRYMPLE • Brian E. Dalrymple was born in Toronto in

1947. He got his baccalaureate in 1970 from Ontario College of Art. In 1972 Dalrymple joined the Forensic Identification Services of the Ontario Provincial Police as a forensic analyst, beginning a 28-year career with the agency.

• In 1977 he began collaborating with a couple guys at the Xerox Research Centre named Duff and Menzel, experimenting with lasers. It bothered them that every time they turned the lasers on, the laser beam would illuminate every single fingerprint in the area, fouling up their experiments. Finally someone suggested that maybe this discovery could be useful in crime detection.

• Fine-tuning their discovery, the team found that shining an argon ion laser on latent fingerprints would cause them to fluorescence, making them highly visible. The laser light bounces off the human fat and perspiration in the fingerprint which glow fluorescent yellow. The laser beam was a non-destructive method that also allowed the more traditional methods of fingerprint identification to proceed normally.

• Additionally, they found that the goggles

that all laser operators are required to wear while working with a laser beam effectively blocked certain wavelengths of light, which made the fingerprint stand out even more. Further research by Dalrymple showed that if a fingerprint were stained with particular chemicals, it would cause an even greater degree of fluorescence when the laser light was beamed upon it. Together, these developments proved to be so effective that fingerprints that were otherwise invisible using standard methods could now easily be revealed using these techniques.

• The very first fingerprint identified and utilized in a criminal case using this technology was located on the sticky side of a piece of black electrical tape in a drug case. This was the beginning of a revolution in the forensic identification field.

• Today, portable lasers are sometimes taken to crime scenes to help with fingerprint evidence. This technology is now in global use and has provided crucial evidence in hundreds of major investigations.

• As a result of his efforts, the Ontario Provincial Police became the first police agency in the world to be operational in this technology. After another decade of research, Dalrymple perfected the art of applying computer enhancement technology to sharpen images,

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FINDING FINGERPRINTS (cont’d)using superglue to repair a cracked film-

processing tank in a darkroom, He noticed that the glue fumes enhanced the fingerprints that were on the side of the tank. This was brought to the attention of forensic scientists, and in 1982 the superglue fuming method of lifting fingerprints was first used. Similar to the iodine fuming method, the superglue is heated in a glass beaker and the object placed in the rising vapors. The gas condenses and sticks to the body oils and makes the pattern visible. Dyes are then used to make the pattern stand out even more. Superglue fuming reveals prints left on tin foil, rubberbands, Styrofoam, and various plastic products.

• Today, digital scanners capture an image of the fingerprint. To create a digital fingerprint, a person places a finger on an optical reader. The reader converts the information into digital data. The computer then searches for similar patterns in the database.

FINGERPRINT FOIBLES• In 1941 a Texas cop stopped to question a

hitchhiker. When asked to show his ID, he said he had lost it. The officer noticed his fingertips looked odd. The officer took him in for questioning. After being fingerprinted, the police were fascinated to find he had no fingerprints whatsoever. The man said he was born like that. Police had their doubts and detained him while they consulted the FBI. The FBI instructed police to search the man’s body for scars. On each side of his ribcage there were five oval scars. When he held his arms folded across his chest, his fingers fit perfectly over the scars. A crooked doctor had removed the skin from his fingertips, then cut out small patches of skin from his chest. His arms were folded across his chest and his fingertips taped over the wounded skin. When new skin grew

from his sides, it adhered to his fingertips in a natural skin graft. Alerted, police sent photos of the man across the nation. He was identified as a specialist in safe blowing, wanted for three jobs.

• In Miami in 1990, police arrested a suspect who was thought to be a drug dealer. Upon fingerprinting him, they found his fingerprints running in all sorts of crazy zig zag patterns. It was like nothing they had ever seen before. Tommy Moorefield, an FBI expert on fingerprints, examined the fingerprints and concluded that the man had sliced the skin on his fingertips into tiny pieces and then transplanted those pieces onto other fingers. After the fingertips healed, his new fingerprints ran in all directions. Moorefield took photographs of the fingerprints and cut them into small pieces, then began fitting them together like a jigsaw puzzle. Before long he was able to match the reassembled fingerprints to a fugitive connected to another drug case. The suspect was convicted.

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House Training a New Kitten

DEAR PAW’S CORNER: My mom says she will let me keep a kitten from one of my friend’s cats as soon as the kitten is old enough. I can’t wait, but I wonder if it will be hard to house train the kitten?

DEAR SARA: Compared to house training puppies, kittens usually are very easy to train. Cats instinctively use the bathroom in specific ways -- burying their poop, for example -- because in the wild, it hides their scent from potential predators.

The first time you bring the kitten home, let it explore the house a bit (supervised at all times). Then carry the kitten to the litter box and place it into it.

If the kitten pees or poops elsewhere in the house, don’t scold it. As soon as it happens, carry the kitten to the litter box, gently place the kitten in it and speak in a soothing voice. The kitten should quickly make the connection that this is where you want it to go.

A couple of quick tips: scoop the litter box daily and change it weekly. Neither you nor your cat will like a smelly litter box. If the kitten’s habits change -- it uses the litter box, then suddenly stops using it and eliminates around the house -- take it straight to the vet to make sure it’s not sick.

Be sure to take your kitten to the vet as soon as you get it -- ideally on the same day -- for its first checkup. That way you’ll have a healthy, happy kitten that you can provide with the best care for a long life.

DALRYMPLE (cont’d)once again placing the Ontario Provincial Police

as Canadian leaders in forensic science.

• In 1991, as Associate Section Head, he introduced the first Computer Evidence System to Canada, and became the first Canadian to offer expert advice in this technology. He was promoted to Manager of Forensic Identification Services in 1992.

• He perfected methods on examining murder victims for fingerprints left on their skin.

• Brian Dalrymple retired from the Ontario Provincial Police in 1999 and now runs a private firm dedicated to consultation and training in identification services. He specializes not only in fingerprints, but also in shoe prints, foot prints, and forensic photography, helping solve homicides, drug crimes, fraud, and deter organized crime.

• Brian Dalrymple is the author of numerous publications and the recipient of several prestigious awards. Without his work, many a criminal would still be roaming the streets.

FINGERPRINT FOIBLES (cont’d)• In Binghamton, NY, police had to wait awhile

before they were able to fingerprint suspect Lane Fontes. Fontes was arrested after leaving the scene of an accident and, while sitting in the back of the police car, he chewed the skin off the tips of his fingers. This made police suspicious and they held him in custody for two weeks while the fingerprints grew back. Sure enough, they discovered that he was wanted for parole violations in Virginia.

• In 1975 Larry Collins walked into a bank in New Jersey with a sawed-off shot gun. After swiping over $3,000 he was on his way out of the bank when the gun went off accidentally, striking him in the hand. He yanked off his glove to inspect the damage and threw it on the floor before running out. When police inspected the discarded glove, they found the tip of his finger inside. They got a fingerprint from it and shortly had the robber in custody.

• In 1994 in Mendota Heights, MN, John Wuchko robbed a store. He was careful not to leave fingerprints at the scene, because he wore surgical rubber gloves. However, as he fled the scene, he stripped off the gloves and discarded them. Police recovered one, turned it inside out, and lifted a perfect print.

• In Egypt, a burglar broke into a woman’s house. When she awoke to see a man bending over her, she began to scream. He put his hand over her mouth, but his hand slipped and a finger went inside her mouth. The lady bit down— taking the tip of the finger completely off. The burglar fled. She took the fingertip to the police, who matched the print to a known burglar. They shortly had in custody a man who was missing the end of his finger. He argued that losing the tip of his finger was punishment enough and he shouldn’t have to go to jail, but he did anyway.

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▶ It was Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos who made the following sage observation: “Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back.”

▶ Board games date back at least 5,000 years, when people were playing on a board that looks like an ancestor to backgammon.

▶ The next time you’re overwhelmed with emotion and find yourself passionately kissing your partner, you probably won’t remember that one word to describe what you’re doing is “deosculation.”

▶ It was in 1958 that the first stereo phonograph record went on sale.

▶ The soft drink 7-UP was originally called Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda -- and it contained lithium, which is now prescribed to treat manic depression. That ingredient (which continued to be part of the formula until the 1940s) probably helped spur the drink’s success, since 7-UP was introduced just before the Great Depression. The new name was derived from the size of the soda bottle (7 ounces) and “bottoms up,” which is presumably what many people did during the difficult years of the Depression.

▶ A man in Orange County, California, stole a diamond worth $25,000 and, despite being arrested for the crime, was able to smuggle it into prison with him by swallowing it. He then managed to hide the gem in a shower drain in hopes of retrieving and swallowing it again before his release. All that effort was in vain, however; prison guards found the diamond and returned it to the jewelry shop.

▶ If you’re using an average brand-new pencil, you’ll be able to draw a line about 35 miles long before running out of lead (though you’ll have to stop for sharpening breaks, of course).

***

Thought for the Day: “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” -- Thomas Henry Huxley

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