Fingerprinting

As an intern in the Scientific Investigation Section (SIS) at the Honolulu Police Department, I was assigned the task of validating the fingerprint procedures used to lift fingerprints from crime scenes. There were four different type of fingerprint procedures that I helped to validate and they were black powder, magnetic powder, fluorescent powder, and adhesive. Each different procedure consisted of several steps to make sure that each different type of material could still be used to lift fingerprints off of several different substrates.

For this task, my advisor in SIS assigned me to a group consisting of three other people and we were to figure out a procedure to test the different materials used for fingerprinting. Once my group came up with the exact procedure to test each material, we split up the work equally amongst ourselves in which substrate we would test and how many different trials to do per substrate. Once each trial was completed, our group analyzed the fingerprints. In the analyzation process, we had to make sure the fingerprint was clear enough for an investigator to analyze and match to a suspect’s fingerprint. If the fingerprint was distorted in any way, our group had to redo the trial and make sure we had at least 8 fingerprints that were viable to pass the validation process. After testing each different type of material and substrate, I wrote a report that helped to validate the procedures for Crime Scene Investigators to later use in the future.

Through this internship, I learned how much work is put in to validate a procedure and how vital it is for this procedure to be validated. Without the validation of these procedures, investigators in the real world would not be collecting fingerprints from various evidence the correct way or they would not be able to pull a viable fingerprint to catch the suspect. This internship taught me valuable skills that was related to my Forensic Science degree and showed me how what I learn in class is very important to my future career.

You can learn more at the Honolulu Police Department.