ANTHROPOMETRY

Anthropometry

A system of precise body measurements used for personal identification, developed by Alphonse Bertillon.

Bertillon system

A system of personal identification that relied on detailed descriptions, photographs, and anthropometry measurements.

Fingerprints

Reproductions of friction skin ridges found on the palm side of the fingers and thumbs.

Francis Galton

Published the classic textbook "Finger Prints" and advocated for the adoption of fingerprinting as a supplement to the Bertillon system.

Classification systems

Systems developed by Dr. Juan Vucetich and Sir Edward Henry to file and search thousands of fingerprints in a logical sequence.

Fingerprinting

Began to be used in earnest in major U.S. cities after the Will West incident, where fingerprinting clearly distinguished two men who couldn't be distinguished by the Bertillon system.

Ridge characteristics

The identity, number, and relative location of minutiae (such as bifurcations, ridge endings, ridge dots, and enclosures) that impart individuality to a fingerprint.

Principle One

A fingerprint is an individual characteristic because no two fingers have been found to possess identical ridge characteristics.

Minutiae

The identity, number, and relative location of specific ridge characteristics that determine the individuality of a fingerprint.

Point-by-point comparison

A method used in judicial proceedings to demonstrate a detailed comparison of ridge characteristics between two fingerprints to establish positive identification.

Principle Two

Fingerprints do not change throughout an individual's lifetime, except to enlarge during growth.

Latent fingerprints

Invisible prints deposited on surfaces when perspiration and oils from the skin are transferred, leaving behind the finger's ridge pattern.

Principle Three

Fingerprints can be systematically classified into three general patterns:loops, arches, and whorls.

Loops

Fingerprints with ridges entering from one side, recurving, and exiting from the same side.

Ulnar loop

A loop that opens toward the little finger.

Radial loop

A loop that opens toward the thumb.

Delta ridge point

The ridge point at or nearest the point where two type lines diverge in a loop pattern.