The identification of individuals through the unique, stable ridge patterns of the fingertips. Francis Galton established that fingerprint patterns are unique and stable over a lifetime, and Edward Henry developed a system for classifying and searching them that police forces worldwide adopted. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
What It ExaminesFriction ridge patterns of the fingers and palms, compared between a known print and a latent print recovered from a scene to establish or exclude identity. 1 Formalized YearSourced to the subject's own account Known LimitationA 2011 black-box study of 169 trained latent-print examiners comparing 744 print pairs measured a false positive rate (wrongly declaring two different fingers a match) of about 0.1 percent and a false negative rate (missing a genuine match) of about 7.5 percent, the first large-scale empirical measurement of examiner accuracy under conditions resembling casework; the finding is cited both to support the discipline',s general reliability and, by critics, to note that the claimed certainty of a match is not literally zero-error. 3 Known LimitationThe 2009 National Academy of Sciences report found that latent print identification rests on examiner judgment, that claims of infallibility were unsupported, and that its methods had not been validated by adequate statistical research. 4 Discipline
Discipline (category)Fingerprint / Impression Evidence 1 Dactyloscopy
Filter Results2 entries
FAQs
Are fingerprint matches ever wrong?
Rarely, but not never. A 2011 study had 169 trained examiners compare 744 pairs of prints under conditions resembling real casework; five examiners made a false positive, wrongly declaring a match, for an overall false positive rate of about 0.1 percent, while the false negative rate, missing a genuine match, was higher, about 7.5 percent. The finding is cited both to support the discipline's general reliability and, by critics, to note that the traditional claim of absolute certainty is not literally accurate.
Connections
Cases Where Used
The first criminal conviction in the world secured by fingerprint evidence.
Source Wikipedia: Francisca Rojas
Richard Ramirez was identified through a fingerprint match run against California's new statewide automated fingerprint identification system.
Source Wikipedia: Richard Ramirez
Examines Within
Pioneered By
Qazi Azizul Haque, working under Edward Henry in British India, devised the mathematical formula underlying the Henry Classification System's 1,024-pigeonhole sorting method; spot-verified live via web search 2026-09-04.
Source Wikipedia: Edward Henry (police officer)
Source Wikipedia: Francis Galton
Source Wikipedia: Henry Faulds
Source NLM Visible Proofs: Juan Vucetich
William James Herschel, a British official in India, began using fingerprints for identification and contract verification from 1858, among the earliest documented systematic uses predating Galton and Henry.
Sources
1. Saferstein, Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science
Richard Saferstein, Pearson
2. Wikipedia: Edward Henry (police officer)
Assistant Commissioner (Crime) section
He took up post in late May that year and on 1 July established the Metropolitan Police Fingerprint Bureau, a world first.
- Pioneered By: Edward Henry
View the Source3. Ulery, Hicklin, Buscaglia and Roberts, Accuracy and Reliability of Forensic Latent Print Decisions (PNAS, 2011)
4. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward
table of contents, chapter listQuote, table of contents, chapter list
10 Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems
Wikipedia: Francis Galton
Wikipedia: Francisca Rojas
Wikipedia: Richard Ramirez
NLM Visible Proofs: Juan Vucetich
U.S. National Library of MedicinePioneered By: Juan VucetichView the Source Wikipedia: Henry Faulds
Pioneered By: Henry Faulds, Life in Japan sectionQuote, Pioneered By: Henry Faulds, Life in Japan section
Faulds' first paper on the subject was published in the scientific journal Nature in 1880
Edward Henry (police officer) (Wikipedia)
In Group: Criminalistics Foundations and Pattern Evidence, Assistant Commissioner (Crime) sectionQuote, In Group: Criminalistics Foundations and Pattern Evidence, Assistant Commissioner (Crime) section
He took up post in late May that year and on 1 July established the Metropolitan Police Fingerprint Bureau, a world first.
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