Forensic Detection: Fingerprinting and Forensic Anthropology

Forensic detection is a collective term for the processes by which a crime is linked to a particular person. Of course there are other benefits and purposes of forensic detection, but generally the goal is to establish a nexus between a crime and its perpetrator. There are approximately fifteen main aspects of forensic detection. In this article, I will give a brief explanation of fingerprinting and forensic anthropology as well as examples of how each helped to bring some of the nation's most deplorable criminals to justice.

Fingerprinting:

Criminal detection was forever changed for the better by the discovery that no two people could possible have identical fingerprints. This is something that has long been known by the ancient civilizations of Babylon and China. In 1880, modern analysis of fingerprints commenced. It all began with Dr. Henry Faulds who was fascinated with the fingerprint impressions on pottery. He developed the notion that fingerprints could possibly be a means of identification. It was Sir Francis Galton of England who discovered that fingerprint patterns were not congenital and that no two people shared the same pattern... not even identical twins. He studied the features of fingerprints and classified them into three groups: arches, loops and whorls. Sir Edward Henry, an Indian policeman who is considered to be the father of modern fingerprinting, added two groups to Galton's analysis by adding tented arches and separating loops into two sub-groups. He taught his new system to those under his command and positive criminal identification skyrocketed in India at a stunning rate.