Does Fingerprint Identification Usually Work? An Issue in Forensic Science

Abstract

Fingerprints have been successfully used for identification purposes for more than a century and remained one of the most commonly recovered evidence at the crime scene. Due to their uniqueness and individualistic characteristics, the fingerprints are considered as the most powerful and widely used biometric characteristic. The fingerprints of the toes are also unique and can be used for identification because no two individuals have been found to have similar fingerprints. The same also applies to the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. Fingerprints appear in the intrauterine life, during the first trimester and completed in the second trimester, and it is widely believed that they do not change during the lifetime of an individual. But despite this, it’s difficult to capture them in older people due to the loss of skin elasticity and less pronounced finger ridges.