Active Learning Week 1 Respond to the stated question, including any relevance to and implications on the field of criminal justice. Be sure to discuss the issue(s) to which the question pertains. Remarks can include your opinion(s), but must be based on experience, research, and/or prior learning. Use this exercise to foster a rich dialogue with your colleagues about issues that are important to the field of criminal justice. During the span of the discussion, you must post to this board on four unique days. Your initial posting must be no less than 200 words and is due no later than Thursday 11:59 PM EST/EDT. The day you post will count as one of your required four unique postings. You will also be required to post responses to at least three of your colleagues' initial postings. Responses must be no less than 100 words, be posted on at least three unique days, and are due no later than Sunday at 11:59 PM EST/EDT. STATED QUESTION First, discuss the three basic fingerprint patterns and their basic characteristics. What obvious characteristic of each pattern do you feel is distinct enough set that particular basic pattern apart from the others? Then, provide a brief discussion of the three types of evidentiary fingerprints that you could expect to find at a crime scene with a brief description of each category. Post 1 Benjamin Bowden posted Jun 28, 2019 10:35 AM Subscribe The three basic fingerprint patterns are: arch, loop, and whorl (Hames, Nordby, & Bell, 2014). Arch fingerprint’s look just like you would draw a hill on a piece of paper, starts straight with a slow incline ending at a peak with a slow decline. Or, an arch also looks like an increase in terrain elevation as you would see on a topographical map. Loop fingerprints have a distinct loop like the loop you make when you tie your shoes, loops can face either the inner or outer arm. Lastly, the whorl fingerprint is a small circle or a dot with a series of slightly bigger circles around it. The three basic fingerprint patterns are distinct enough to tell them apart, and possession or location of just one of these patterns on an individual’s finger may be able to eliminate or accuse someone of being a suspect. However, the additional features of fingerprints, or minutiae, is what a fingerprint analysis will use and testify to in court. The three types of fingerprints likely to be found at a crime scene include: latent, patent, and plastic (Hames, Nordby, & Bell, 2014). Latent fingerprints are usually invisible to the naked eye and need to be enhanced by either a physical or chemical process in order to be retrieved and analyzed. Patent fingerprints are flat just like latents but are made in a substance that makes them recognizable and able to be lifted without enhancement. Plastic fingerprints are made in a solid substance that are impressionable such as wax, soft rubber, and clay. References Hames, S. H., Nordby, J. J., & Bell, S. (2014). Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques (4th ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. POST2 Margaret Fitzgerald posted Jun 30, 2019 6:09 PM Subscribe Fingerprints may all be different but they all have three things in commonpatterns based on the visible ridges. These three patterns are called arch, loop, and whorl. The arch pattern has two variations-plain or tented. The arch is plain when the ridges at the center are continuous from one side of the finger to the other. Tented arch ridges do not flow continuously side to side. The loop pattern also has two variations that are named based on what direction the slope lies. These are known as radial and ulnar because, depending on the hand, the slope of the loop points either toward the outer arm bone-ulna or to the inside arm bone-radial. On the left hand, the ulnar loop opens to the left and on the right hand, the ulnar loop opens to the right. Whorls have several variations known as central pocket, double loop and accidental. The central pocket pattern has a very tight center, the double loop whorl has a back and forth, snakelike pattern reminiscent of the Mississippi River as it courses through New Orleans. The accidental whorl is a combination of at least two different patterns. Both loop and whorl patterns contain a core-a point in the center and a delta-a triangular shaped point. Fingerprints found at crime scenes are of three types. Patent is where the print is visible to the naked eye as a result of contact with a substance like grease or ink, perhaps blood. These are clear enough to forgo any other processing. Plastic, or impression, prints are found on soft, pliable surfaces, like wet clay or Play Doh® and can be used as found. Latent prints are not visible to the naked eye, at least not clearly enough to determine patterns sufficiently. These are the ones that need to be processed with physical, chemical, or special illumination methods. Physical methods include powder dusting or magnetic powders. Chemical processing includes silver nitrate (archaic), iodine fuming, and ninhydrin, and cyanoacrylate esters (Super Glue®). These last three work with vapors that can adhere to the fingerprint to make them visible. Special illumination methods include oblique lighting which may be considered physical because it is merely applying light at an angle that makes the print visible. Other light methods include laser, bright (xenon arc) light These extremely bright white lights may be used with special filters that alter the wavelength and provide better contrast. James, S. H., Ph.D., J. J., Bell, S., & Williams, L. J. (2014). Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques, Fourth Edition. Oxfordshire, England: Taylor & Francis. POST3 posts Carla Benjamin posted Jul 3, 2019 3:00 PM Subscribe In forensic science, “fingerprints are primarily used to help locate, identify, and eliminate suspects in criminal cases” (James, Norby, and Bell, 2014, pg.328) There are three distinct fingerprint patterns that recognized: arch, loop, and whorl. The arch is easily identified, as the shape which is usually plain or tented. The loop is identified depending on the slope of the print pattern, whether it is in the direction of the radius or ulna (James, et al, 2014). These fingerprints can also be identified by the core or a delta. Finally, the last fingerprint and the most complex is the whorl. The whorls are identified as spirals with a core in the center. However, depending on the pattern of the whorl, individuals can have a center pocket, double loop, or accidental whorl. In order to obtained these fingerprints from a crime scene, the investigators must be able to retrieve them in order to be presented as evidence and compared. These three types of evidentiary fingerprints are patent, plastic, and latent prints. The patent fingerprint is usually the easiest to identify considering that it reveals itself as a fingerprint. This type of print can be rendered from any type of substance, i.e. grease or blood and does not require any additional processing. The plastic usually referred to as an impression, is usually retrieved from a surface where the fingerprint has been captured, leaving behind a three-dimensional characteristic. The last evidentiary fingerprint is latent. The latent print is the most complex print considering that it requires additional processing in order to be used for comparison by the use of development, enhancement, and visualization (James, et al, 2014). James, S. H., Nordby. J. J., & Bell, S. (Eds.). (2014). Forensic science: An introduction to scientific and investigative techniques (4th ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press
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