AFIS News & Articles

• Fingerprint system speeds arrests in Ohio

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  2 dozen cases have been solved in a year, and 7 arrests have been made

• Mistaken identity arrests 'likely happen every day'

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  The ACLU is calling police work 'recklessly sloppy'

• How to buy automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS)

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  By Tim Dees Many law enforcement agencies, especially smaller ones with lower arrest volumes, continue to produce and retain tenprint cards in file cabinets. Many of these cards are eventually scan...

• Fingerprint examiners claim officers lay on pressure

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  Bias may lurk in labs' ties to small police agencies

• Mass. suspect mutulated fingers to hide ID

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  Associated PressBOSTON — Police said a Boston man wanted for drug trafficking tried to hide his identity by cutting off his fingertips. State Police spokesman David Procopio said Monday that Franci...

• Thousands of DNA samples missing from state databanks

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  Associated PressMADISON, Wis. — During what police say was a 20-year killing spree in Milwaukee, Walter Ellis left his DNA behind all along the way - everywhere but the one place where it might hav...

• Using relative's DNA to crack crimes raises privacy questions

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  By Jim Spellman CNN.comDENVER, Colo. — Using DNA to catch criminals has become common, but police in Denver, Colorado, this year demonstrated how the practice can be taken to a new level: They trac...

• Despite new tech, Ky. police say old fingerprinting methods work well

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  By Dariush Shafa Messenger-InquirerOWENSBORO, Ky. — The image of a law enforcement officer with a brush-and-dust kit searching for fingerprints might seem like an anachronism in the age of computer...

• Concern over Detroit police handling of rape kits

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  BY Joe Swickard and Chris Christoff Detroit Free PressDETROIT — Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy wants an independent investigation into what she says may be thousands of kits holding evidence of...

• Genetic study aids DNA forensics for law enforcement

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  Researchers are going beyond traditional forensics to try and predict the physical appearance of an unidentified person whose DNA is found at a crime scene. When DNA is taken from a crime scene, th...

• Detroit police departments to test portable fingerprint scanners

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  Detroit Free PressDETROIT — Police in southeast Michigan soon will be the first in the state to have portable fingerprint scanners to identify suspects, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard anno...

• New fingerprinting technique could crack cold cases

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  By Melissa Gray CNN.comLONDON — It was early one Sunday morning when the killer rang at a front door that was decorated with a wreath for Christmas. When his victim answered, he fired four fatal sh...

• Widespread DNA backlog still affecting L.A. cases

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  By Joel Rubin Los Angeles TimesLOS ANGELES — Dozens of police departments throughout Los Angeles County routinely have not tested DNA evidence collected in rape and sexual assault cases, and are un...

• Detroit crime lab must retest 147 cases

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  Associated PressDETROIT — Authorities have identified 147 cases that will require retesting of evidence handled by a city police lab shuttered over test errors.Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to...

• All About Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS)

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  Courtesy of http://www.fbi.gov/What is it?The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, more commonly known as IAFIS, is a national fingerprint and criminal history system maintained ...

• Report calls for nationwide crime lab overhaul

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  By Devlin Barrett Associated PressWASHINGTON, D.C. — Researchers have concluded the nation's crime labs need an overhaul because they lack strict and consistent scientific standards.A 255-page repo...

• Boulder police will apply new technology in JonBenet investigation

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  The Associated PressBOULDER, Colo. — Police have once again taken over the investigation into the unsolved slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, saying they will apply new technology and expertise to the 12-...

• DNA evidence untested in 800+ Calif. cases

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  Number of L.A. County sex cases with untested evidence and no suspects is much higher than thoughtBy Joel Rubin Los Angeles TimesLOS ANGELES — DNA evidence has gone untested in more than 800 rape a...

• European court makes landmark ruling on DNA rights

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  By Paisley Dodds Associated PressLONDON — Europe's top human rights court Thursday struck down a British law that allows the government to store DNA and fingerprints from people with no criminal re...

• LAPD crime lab still plagued with problems

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  Related articles: LAPD finds faulty fingerprint work DNA lab backlog dooms L.A. assault casesBy Joel Rubin and Richard Winton Los Angeles TimesLOS ANGELES — Late on the morning of April 14, 2006, a...

• DNA lab backlog dooms L.A. assault cases

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  Related article: LAPD finds faulty fingerprint workBy Richard Winton Los Angeles TimesLOS ANGELES — As many as 200 potential sexual assault cases have gone without prosecution because Los Angeles p...

• LAPD finds faulty fingerprint work

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  Report cites two cases of false accusations but the total isn't known.By Joel Rubin, Richard Winton Los Angeles TimesLOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Department has acknowledged in a confidenti...

• FBI: Prints prove 'Rockefeller' is German man

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  Related article: Feds investigate kidnapper tied to other crimesBy Glen JohnsonThe Associated PressBOSTON — The FBI said Friday that it matched fingerprints from a German man's decades-old immigrat...

• Scanner identifies Calif. gang member

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  Gang member arrested after portable scanner identifies him: Device allows law enforcement to check fingerprints in the fieldRelated articles: Fingerprints on file, right from the patrol car New fin...

• Calif. sheriff's crime lab honored

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  Paying careful attention to detail, forensic unit is recognized for meeting international standardRelated articles: Errors prompt states to watch over crime labs Real 'CSI' scientists scoff at the ...

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