Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification System

http://www.policeone.com/police-products/investigation/afis/articles/100353/

Sherman, Mark. "FBI checking database to make sure it is matching fugitives." Associated Press http://www.policeone.com.


As crime investigation technology continues to improve, a growing trend is the integration of vast databases of biometric and other identification information, to aid in the fast identification of suspects. The largest database of biometric information is the FBI’s Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS.

IAFIS is a database of biometric information on 47 million individuals. The information is all voluntarily submitted to the FBI from local, state, and federal law enforcement.

The database is used for many purposes. Law enforcement officials can use it to search for matches for fingerprints or other information found at a crime scene, in order to identify possible criminals. It also allows law enforcement officials to identify someone who has already been arrested, to see if they have had a prior history of crimes or if they are already wanted for crimes. The database is also used for civil reasons. Employers can submit queries to the database in order to do background searches for prospective employees, making sure they are honest in their applications and will be productive employees.

The database represented a vast improvement over previous methods of fingerprint identification. Prior to its implementation, fingerprint identification was a slow, painstaking process involving the physical creation and transportation of fingerprint cards. The digitalization of these allowed checks to be made in mere hours instead of days.

The article discusses a high profile case in which the system failed to identify the fingerprints of a wanted fugitive, who later went on to murder three women. However, I feel that the system overall remains incredibly accurate for a system incorporating tens of millions of individuals. It is still a step up from what was previously used.

Although the database vastly improves the efficiency of checking and aids in the investigation of crimes, there is still great controversy over it. One of the greatest debates is over who should be included in such a database. As of now the database includes individuals who are added to it by law enforcements. This means that all of the people in the database have been arrested and/or possible convicted of a crime. However, this system limits the database to those who have had prior criminal history. People who are first time offenders cannot be identified in the database. Some argue that the database should be expanded to include more people, possibly everyone. While this would lead to more accuracy and likelihood of identification, it would also require completely innocent people to be put into the database. Therefore they would have a greater likelihood of being identified even if they were innocent, and would have to explain what their fingerprints were doing at a crime scene.

The article also mentions how fingerprints found on a shopping bag near the train bombings in Madrid were mistakenly believed to be from a Portland lawyer. This illustrates the risk of expanding the database to a greater part of the population.

However, I feel that the expansion of the database to include a greater part of the general population would be beneficial. While innocent people might be called in for questioning or investigating because their fingerprints were identified from the database, I believe that the added ability to identify first time offenders would be greatly beneficial. After all, everyone is a first time offender once, and the requirement that someone has to have committed a crime before they can be identified using the database greatly hampers the identification of a suspect via fingerprinting.