How Are Fingerprints Used in Forensic Science?
Historic Use Forensic science is the area of study involving crime scene investigation. Forensic scientists are trained to make a hypothesis utilizing multiple sources of evidence including fingerprints. Fingerprints were first used in criminal investigations during the mid-1850s in India, but they were not used as regular protocol in England and Wales until 1901, according to historian Simon A. Cole. Despite the fact that a national fingerprint data base in the U.S. would offer investigators a valuable pool of information on individuals participating in criminal behavior, the push to collect fingerprints in the U.S. came only out of prejudice against foreign-born individuals during the 1940s, according to Cole’s book “Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification.” Modern Fingerprint Collection The Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint database today holds over 60 million sets of prints, with over 200,000 sets newly entered each day, according to Cr
