| Author | Message | ||
     Kasey Wertheim |
Stephanie, There are three levels of detail that are analyzed by examiners making an identification. The first level you mentioned; Pattern. The way the ridges flow within the fingerprint is considered to be level 1 detail. If you look closer at level 2 detail, you will see ridges bifurcate and end. These are examples of the path each ridge takes, and their relative position within the pattern is unique and is used to distinguish one print from another. The third level of detail is the shape of each ridge itself, and it also is unique and is used by examiners to individualize prints. But since you posted your question under the AFIS section, I'll also say that AFIS uses a combination of level 1 (to narrow the field) and level 2 details to rank the candidates. Of course, AFIS doesn't do the matching of latent to inked prints; just provides candidates for the examiner to compare. | ||
| Stephanie |
What distinguishing fingerprint patterns are analyzed to make a positive ID? |
