TOPIC 9

FINGERPRINT TAKING AND RECORDING

INTRODUCTION:

The skin is both the largest organ and the first line of protection in the human body. Completely
covering the body from head to toe, the skin is primarily consistent in nature everywhere except
for the areas covering the palmar surfaces of the fingers and hands and the plantar surfaces of the
toes and feet. The skin on these areas is referred to as friction ridge skin. Obtaining legible
recordings of these areas of skin is crucial for subsequent comparisons to latent impressions
recovered from crime scenes, for comparison against previous records, or for input into
automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS).

TOPIC CONTENT;

1. Taking fingerprints
2. The rolled and print impression
3. Inking and rolling the fingers
4. Obtaining prints of deceased person
5. Taking palm prints
6. Taking foot prints

TOPIC OBJECTIVES:
This topic aims the students to:

1. Understand the fingerprint taking methods and techniques

2. Demonstrate the proper technique or method of recording fingerprints.

TOPIC OUTCOME:
At the end of the topic, the students will be able to:

1. Understand the fingerprint taking methods and techniques;

2. Demonstrate the proper technique or method of recording fingerprints.

RECORDING FINGERPRINTS

ITEMS THAT MAKE UP A FINGERPRINT KIT

1. Ink roller – is one of the inking devices required for spreading the ink on the ink slab.
2. Ink slab – a piece of glass either ¼ inch thick and 6 or more inches long.
3. Card holder – a type of gadget that is used for clipping the fingerprint card to avoid
movement of the card during printing of fingerprints.
4. Fingerprint ink – is a specially manufactured ink for purposes of taking fingerprints.
5. Magnifying glass – is used in examining developed latent prints. A 3-inch wide reading
glass is required (Manlusoc, 2008 p.36-41). The kinds of magnifying glass are:

a. Linen tester – it has an opening one inch square, with fixed focus, and which can be
folded and carried in the pocket when necessary.

Topic 9: Module in Forensic 2: Personal Identification Techniques. Prepared by: Jomel B. Pinera, Ph.D. Crim. Page 84
 b. Bausch and Lomb magnifier – is also known as “Horse shoe magnifier.” This is a
magnifying glass with a built in stand and an adjustable lens to suit the visual sight of
the examiner.
c. Hand lens – is used in examining developed print handled by hand unlike the Linen
tester and Bausch and Lomb magnifier.
6. Fingerprint powders – these are specially manufactured that is used in developing latent
prints applied on contrasting background.
7. Fingerprint brushes – these are used in spreading the powders in a rotary motion.
Fiberglass brushes are preferably used by fingerprint technicians.
8. Fingerprint lifting tapes – these are used in lifting a developed latent print. There are
three kinds of fingerprint lifting tapes: frosted, rubber and transparent.
9. Latent fingerprint transfer cards – are used in preserving developed, lifted latent
prints.
10. Fingerprint cards – this a card that is used in recording inked fingerprints for
comparison.
11. Flash light – a very useful device for searching and for focusing on developed latent
prints.
12. Ruler or tape measure – this is used to measure relative distances of objects in the crime
scene as well as distances and size of prints.
13. Pair of forceps – this is used in picking up objects found in the crime scene.
14. Graph paper – this is used for sketching purposes to indicate proper locations and
measurements of objects in the crime scene.
15. Evidence identification tapes or tags – used to properly identify objects or physical
evidence gathered from the crime scene.
16. Scissors – used in cutting fingerprint tapes and for other purposes.
17. Rubber gloves – is used primarily to avoid the technician to leave his own fingerprints in
the object being collected or examined.
18. Post-mortem fingerprinting equipment – this contains hypodermic syringe, spoon,
tissue builder solvent, tissue cleaner, etc.
19. Carrying case – a box-like structure or an attaché type may suffice. There are several
crime detection equipment manufacturers or suppliers of fingerprint equipment.
20. Inkless inking device – this is a porelon pad, sensitized fingerprint cards that is used to
record fingerprints even without staining the fingers. The procedure: the finger is touched
to the inkless pad then to the sensitized card and instantly a permanent readable print will
be developed (Manlusoc, 2008 p.41).

RECORDING FINGERPRINTS

Fingerprints are impressions of the pattern or design formed by the ridges on the inside of the
end joint of a finger or thumb, on some smooth surface through the use of some colored material.
The smooth surface where the impressions are recorded generally consists of the fingerprints
card which usually is made of white cartolina paper with 8x8 inches as measurement. The
colored material commonly used to record the impressions is the fingerprint ink.

Materials Needed in Recording Fingerprints

1. Fingerprint Ink
2. Fingerprint roller
3. Fingerprint slab
4. Fingerprint card

KINDS OF FINGERPRINT IMPRESSIONS

In fingerprint work we always record what are known as rolled impression and plain impression
on the standard fingerprint cards.
Topic 9: Module in Forensic 2: Personal Identification Techniques. Prepared by: Jomel B. Pinera, Ph.D. Crim. Page 85
A plain impression is one made by pressing an inked finger directly down upon a fingerprint
card without any rolling motion whatsoever. It will record only the center portion of the friction
ridge pattern.

A rolled impression is one made by rolling an inked finger from one side of the finger nail to
the other. It will record the entire ridge pattern of the nail joint of the finger. Both of the
following prints are of the same finger.

Purpose of Plain Impression

1) To serve as a guide in checking the rolled impression, whether or not the rolled
impression were properly place on their respective boxes
2) To check on the ridge characteristics of the plain impression, if the rolled impression is
somewhat faint or indistinct due to the bad condition of the friction skin either temporary
or permanently deteriorated or in case of a doubtful or questionable prints.
3) To check the minute details of the ridge characteristics for purposes of classification and
identification.

Fig. The Rolled and Plain Impression in a fingerprint card

FILLING OUT FINGERPRINT CARD

In fingerprint terminology, filling out means the entering on a fingerprint record card of all
known essential data about the subject, except the fingerprints themselves. Placing the prints in
their proper spaces on the card is known as recording (Montojo, 2006 Lessons 4.1-11)

On the face of a fingerprint card there are spaces for the subject’s name, alias, sex, color and his
signature. The recording agency’s serial number for that subject, the date the prints are recorded
and the signature of the operator are also given on the front side of the card.

The word “classification” printed in the upper right hand corner of the card is a very important
part of the fingerprint card. On this line is entered the classification for the set of prints on the
card. It is by this classification that the fingerprint card is filed. The classification also enables
the technician to make a search in the file to determine whether or not a certain subject already
has a set of prints on file. Beneath the word “classification’ is the word “reference”.

Topic 9: Module in Forensic 2: Personal Identification Techniques. Prepared by: Jomel B. Pinera, Ph.D. Crim. Page 86
In some agency the subject’s surname is entered first, followed by his given name and then by
his middle name, separated by the smaller letter “y”. The “surname” always means the last or
family name of the subject. The “given” name is that given the subject at birth. In some agency
the name is written out just like a signature is written, that is given as first name, middle name or
initial, and then the surname.

TYPES OF FINGERPRINT CARD

There are two types of fingerprint card. The first is Criminal Fingerprint Card, which is used
to record fingerprints of suspects and criminals and other identities of the person being
fingerprinted.

The second type is “Civilian Fingerprint Card” which is also used in recording fingerprints of
a civilian for various purposes. In this card, there is a place to list the names and addresses of
several relatives who could be notified in case of emergency. There is also a space for the
purpose of fingerprinting.
PROCEDURE OF RECORDING FINGERPRINTS

The fingerprint technician’s value depends, to a great extent, upon how well he can record
legible fingerprints. It is not a difficult process, but it does require practice and care. Follow the
procedure below:

1. Let the subject fill-up all needed data as provided in the fingerprint card
2. Make sure that all needed materials are ready.
3. Clean the materials specially the ink slab to be used
4. Ink the glass slab at both ends.
5. Spread the ink on the glass slab. Use the fingerprint roller in spreading the ink by running
back and forth in a constant direction. Do not put too much ink.
6. Allow the ink on the plate to spin in the air. This is done in order to give the ink a chance
to take hold at new places on the slab. After a bit of practice, you will find it easy to get
just the proper amount of ink on the plate.
7. Test the amount of ink on the slab. Try a print of one of your own fingers from the
freshly inked slab. Match this fresh print with the older one for clarity and destiny.
Another way to test is to hold the plate up to the light. Looking through the thin and
uniformly spread film of ink you should see a light brown coating on the slab, not black,
as you might suspect.
8. Print the fingerprints of the subject. Before starting to fingerprint a subject, make sure
that his hands are clean and dry.
a) If they are dirty, have him wash them well with soap and water.
b) If his hands are perspiring freely, wipe them off with a soft, clean cloth dampened with
alcohol.
c) If the suspect’s hands be dry and hard, pour a little hand lotion into the palms of the
hands and have them massage it into his fingertips.
d) Be careful not to use so much lotion that his fingers become greasy.
e) Have him massage the lotion into his fingers until the ridges become tacky.
f) tell the subject not to help you. This holds true even if he tells you that he has been
fingerprinted before. You are the operator, not him. It is up to you to do the work.
g) Place the inked glass slab near the edge of the table, at extreme left.
h) Place the fingerprint card in the card holder, which is to the right of the inking plate. The
first row of five squares is properly aligned to the aperture of the card holder lid.
i) Ink and print the ten fingers following the sequence presented in the table.

Topic 9: Module in Forensic 2: Personal Identification Techniques. Prepared by: Jomel B. Pinera, Ph.D. Crim. Page 87
Manner of Inking and Printing fingerprints:

1. The thumbs should be rolled towards the subject’s body (going inside).
2. The four other fingers (refers to the right and left index, middle, ring and little fingers) of
the same hand shall be rolled in the direction away from the subject’s body.
3. The rolling of fingers should be done 180 degrees or from tip to tip and side to side of the
fingers in order to record the complete design or pattern of the fingerprint. There is a
need to record the fingerprints in rolling motion due to the fact that important ridge
details might be located in the sides or tip of the fingers. Ridge details are not always
located in the center of the pattern.
4. Print the two thumbs in the box provided below the fingerprint card (no rolling motion)
5. Print the four other fingers (the right and left index, middle, ring and little fingers)
simultaneously in the space provided below the fingerprint card (no rolling motion).
6. Say thank you to the subject for his/her participation.

COMMON ERRORS IN RECORDING FINGERPRINTS

1. The use of insufficient or too much ink. If you use insufficient ink, the resulting prints
are then too thin or faint. But if you use too much ink, it causes prints to be too black in
which important ridge characteristics cannot be seen.
2. The materials were not cleaned before use. This causes false markings to appear in the
prints because of foreign matters like dirt or dust on the slab or roller is printed during the
recording operation.
3. The prints were not rolled properly. This is a frequent cause for poor recording of
prints. This means that thumbs and fingers were not fully rolled out and often resulting
in loops and whorls lacking their deltas. Except in cases of physical deformity of the
subject, insufficient rolling is nothing more than carelessness on the part of the operator.
4. The “up and down portion” of the terminal phalange are not properly inked. This
causes failure to register one or both deltas, and in ridge tracing some of the ridge that is
being traced does not show up because the finger was not inked and printed below the
crease of the first joint.
5. Lack of control to the subject. This during the printing process, resulting in the slipping
of fingers, smudges, uneven pressure, etc.

Important Points to be Considered in Taking Legible Prints

1) Cleanliness of equipment.
2) The right kind and correct amount of ink.
3) Proper distribution of ink on the glass slab or inking plate.
4) The distance of the subject from the inking plate on the fingerprint card.
5) The advice of the operator to the subject to relax and never to aid in the operation.
6) The pressure exerted must be slight and even and the rolling is continuous movement
including the lifting.
7) The nail of the fingers should be at right angle to the glass slab or to the card before
starting the rolling and always roll the fingers until the other side of the nails is reached.
8) The inking and printing must always reached below the first joint of the fingers.
9) The thumbs should be rolled towards the subject’s body and all other finger away from
the subject’s body.
10) While rolling the fingers, the subject’s hands should be held/controlled properly to
prevent twisting and slipping of the fingers.
11) Proper alignment.
12) Defects:

a) Using too much ink

Topic 9: Module in Forensic 2: Personal Identification Techniques. Prepared by: Jomel B. Pinera, Ph.D. Crim. Page 88
 b) Heavy pressure
c) Uneven pressure

Quality Checklist:

To verify the fingerprint impressions meet the standard requirements, please use the following
checklist:

1) Is there a fingerprint impression in each finger block? If there is a missing fingerprint

impression, is there a reason noted in the finger block (e.g., amputated (AMP), missing at
birth, unable to print, etc.)?
2) Are fingerprints rolled fully, from nail to nail?
3) If the fingerprint impression is a loop, are the delta and core present? If the fingerprint
impression is a whorl, are all deltas present?
4) Are the fingerprint impressions clear and distinct?
5) Are the fingerprint impressions uniform in tone and not too dark or light?
6) Are the four finger impressions and a thumb impression in the plain impression block for
each hand?
7) Are the rolled fingerprint impressions in the correct finger blocks when compared to the
plain impressions?

Problems Encountered by the Fingerprint Operator:

1) When the finger/fingers have fresh cut, wound or bandage which will prevent the
recording.

Solution:

Note in the corresponding space on the card

Example:
Fresh cut, bandaged finger etc. and arrange for future printing when wound healed. If it possible
use a magnifying glass and examine the ridges directly on the finger and record on the
corresponding space on the card the pattern interpretation, a ridge counting and ridge tracing.

2) When the hands are perspiring excessively.

Solution:
Wipe the fingers with cloth immediately before inking. If the perspiration cannot be
controlled by wiping cloth, wipe the fingers with alcohol.

3) When the fingers are very dry like the fingers of some brick layers and carpenters.

Solution:
Rub the fingers with oil or cream or lotion.

4) When the ridges are very fine like the ridges of the fingers of children.

Solution:
Use a very little amount of ink or spread a very thin coating of in on the glass slab.
5) When the fingers are bend, broken or crippled

Solution:
Topic 9: Module in Forensic 2: Personal Identification Techniques. Prepared by: Jomel B. Pinera, Ph.D. Crim. Page 89
 Use one of the methods in taking the print of the dead.

6) When the subject has more than ten fingers all fully formed.

Solution:
The thumbs and next four fingers, to them should be printed and any fingers left over
should be printed on the other side of the card with a notation made to the effect that they
are “extra fingers.”

7) Should any extra finger appear anywhere between or any of the fingers.

Solution:
Record the print of one fully formed, normal fingers in the proper sequences.
Then record the extra digits on the back of the card with a notation as to where it
appears.

In case of split thumb, a thumb having two nails or when the subject has two or more
fingers, webbed or grown together, making it impossible to roll such fingers in its side. Print it in
the usual manner just like any normal thumb and make a notation at the back of the card.

Can you Forced a Person to be Fingerprinted?

Answer: YES

Authority Opinion: Opinion Number 204 Series 1939 by the Secretary of Justice Jose Abad
Santos.

As long as the person is under legal arrest he can be forced to be fingerprinted. A person under
arrest who refuses to be fingerprinted may be prosecuted by disobedience to the agent of a
person in authority, defined in, and penalized under by article 151 of the Revised Penal Code.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS IN RECORDING FINGERPRINTS

1. Amputated (Amp) or Finger missing at birth (FMB)

2. Bandaged Finger Due to Injury
3. Partly amputated
4. Two thumbs at the same hand
5. Extra little finger at the same hand
6. Extra finger appear anywhere between any of the fingers.
7. A hand has six fingers all normally formed.
8. Split thumb
9. Two or more normal fingers joined or webbed by thin membrane of skin.
10. Fingerprinting old-aged person.
11. Fingerprinting people suffering from arthritis and rheumatism.

PROCEDURE IN TAKING THE FINGERPRINTS OF A DEAD PERSON

1. The ink is rolled on a glass slab, and then the slab is rolled around each of the deceased’s
extended fingers, instead of rolling the fingers on the slab.
2. The fingerprint card is then rolled around each of the inked fingers, making sure that each
digit is recorded in the correct square. The plain impressions are taken by pressing the
fingerprint card against the extended digits without any rolling.
3. If, for some reason or another, the operator cannot obtain clear prints by this method, he
can follow another procedure. Ink the fingers by rolling the inked roller over the end
Topic 9: Module in Forensic 2: Personal Identification Techniques. Prepared by: Jomel B. Pinera, Ph.D. Crim. Page 90
 joint of each digit. Next, with a pair of scissors, a standard fingerprint card is cut up into
pieces. Each of the ten finger blocks is cut out, and also each of the three areas for plain
prints, one for the right hand plain fingerprints, one for those of the left hand, and one for
the two plain impressions of the thumbs. If the finger blocks do not have printed
numbers from 1 to 10 showing the sequence of the fingers, it would be wise for the
operator to number them himself so he will not get the sequence of the rolled impressions
mixed up. The blocks should be numbered, of course, starting with the right thumb as
number 1, numbering each until the left little finger, which is number 10.
4. Record other important information about the dead person.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED WHEN RECORDING FINGERPRINTS OF A CORPSE

1. The fingers are clenched

2. The fingers are shriveled or shrunken
3. The finger skin is shredding

**END OF TOPIC 9**

Topic 9: Module in Forensic 2: Personal Identification Techniques. Prepared by: Jomel B. Pinera, Ph.D. Crim. Page 91