Dr. David Shudel mentioned last week on my weekly blog post on LinkedIn about being left alone with a dangerous suspect. Other readers commented much the same. I started to reply to Dr. Shudel, but opted to write this week’s message and expand the discussion. I write today as a latent print examiner (LPE) who prefers to fingerprint suspects and arrestees myself.
A high percentage of comparisons on my last job were reported as “inconclusive” due to inadequate exemplars. Incomplete comparisons of crime scene fingerprint comparisons allow criminals to go unidentified and innocent people to remain on lists of suspects and be treated as such. Most jailers and even police officers take fingerprints that are substandard for many of the comparisons that are requested.
Personally, I want to take fingerprints from suspects myself after I have analyzed the latent prints in a case. In first analyzing the latent prints, I want to determine what area of friction ridge skin probably made the latent fingerprint and gauge the direction and pressure that was applied during the touch.
Then when I fingerprint the suspect, I want to take inked prints of the most likely areas of friction ridge skin duplicating as closely as possible the direction and pressure I inferred from the mark. I may also take and use complete major case prints, even regular 10-prints. But frequently, latent prints contain friction ridge detail not normally captured on standard arrest prints. And unless major case prints are taken by somebody expert in the process, they can be useless for difficult comparisons
Taking inked prints myself ensures three things: First, I have direct knowledge of the provenance of the prints, not just a name printed on a fingerprint card. Second, I take better prints using old fashioned black printer’s ink and long-established methods than most jailers or police officers take using their live-scan machines. And third, I’m comparing “like to like,” that is, the most likely areas of friction ridge skin impressions with the same pressure and directionality as the latent prints from the crime scene.
Here’s the point. Doing this puts me at the mercy of the suspect. I arrange for an officer to be present, especially for suspects who may be desperate. Because I stand directly in front of a person I’m fingerprinting and the handcuffs have been removed, it would be extraordinarily easy for them to get the jump on me, put me in a choke hold, hit me over the head with something, or even pull a hidden weapon.
I start in those situations by making light of the subject. I tell the person I’m fingerprinting that he can get in the first blow while I’m fingerprinting him, but the officer behind him will get in the last blow and it won’t be pleasant. It is not uncommon for a suspect to resist being fingerprinted or try to smear his prints (easy for him to do with a jailer or officer who doesn’t realize the prints are slightly smudged and unusable) but I’ve never had one fight me.