Are your fingerprints on file?

[AceLuby]

[ QUOTE ]
I've been watching too much CSI and reading too many mysteries lately. They'll always mention AFIS, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System as a way to identify unknown persons.

[/ QUOTE ]

BTW, this doesn't exist IRL. There is no centralized computer with everyone's fingerprint, and there isn't a computer that can take a single whole fingerprint (none the less a partial) and find the person, or really even get a small group of people.

Fingerprints are all done by hand and are rarely used in any cases unless there is a lot of other evidence, which it shouldn't be necessary anyway. It is completely subjective.

They do file them, but there is no 'database' where a program will select the match based on another print.

This is the main reason why I started hating crime dramas, every story is based on this non-existant program and database.

[gusmahler]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've been watching too much CSI and reading too many mysteries lately. They'll always mention AFIS, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System as a way to identify unknown persons.

[/ QUOTE ]

BTW, this doesn't exist IRL.

[/ QUOTE ]Really? You should probably correct http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat...ication_System then.

(I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I have no idea what exists or not.)

[Brocktoon]

[ QUOTE ]
Fingerprints are all done by hand

[/ QUOTE ]

What is this supposed to mean? Are you disputing that fingerprints are taken electronically and filed into computer databases?

[bobbyi]

Even if the fully automated lookup system doesn't exist yet, I'm sure it will soon.

If so, I'll be in there. Thanks Goldman Sachs!

[wh1t3bread]

[ QUOTE ]
Even if the fully automated lookup system doesn't exist yet, I'm sure it will soon.


[/ QUOTE ]

It does. It's just called IAFIS. While it doesn't have everyone who has committed a crime, nor everyone who has to have their fingerprints taken for a civil job it does have 47 million records.

[Wetdog]

I was printed in 1971 on a buying liquor for minors charge. In 1996 I was printed after passing my securities license exam. The prints came back from the FBI lab noting the charge from 25 years earlier. So yeah.

[soko]

Las Vegas Sheriffs Card for casino employees, got all 10 fingers electronically scanned.

[schundler]

they haven't got [censored] on me [censored]

[AceLuby]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Even if the fully automated lookup system doesn't exist yet, I'm sure it will soon.


[/ QUOTE ]

It does. It's just called IAFIS. While it doesn't have everyone who has committed a crime, nor everyone who has to have their fingerprints taken for a civil job it does have 47 million records.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is one system that the FBI uses that no other agency can use. Also, it is far far far from perfect. In fact, the searching part of this doesn't even work well. It does store them, you just can't find one given a random fingerprint.

This is still done by hand and is completely subjective. Fingerprint db's and finding a name based off a print is very tough to do programmatically and is a field is computer science and math that is all it's own.

[DrewDevil]

I had to get printed as part of applying for a Texas State Bar law license. I was genuinely irritated by this and inquired about what happened if I refused. I was told that they couldn't force me to get printed but that my refusal would be taken into account by the state bar when they were evaluating my application.

I gave in and let them print me, the bastards.