| Our aim with this book was to place, under the same roof, two distinct but intertwined aspects of the use of fingerprinting for personal identification and criminal investigation: (1) the aspects associated with the visualization, detection, and recording of friction ridge skin impressions and (2) the issues regarding the identification or individualization of unknown marks when compared with known prints. In 1978, Robert Olsen (1978) published one of the rare books where both aspects were covered with equal weight. Two of us published an overview of fingerprint detection techniques, putting significant emphasis on detection sequences (Margot and Lennard 1994); however, the identification process was only briefly covered. In recent years, we have all been involved in various research projects on fingerprint detection techniques as well as identification issues. We have tried to reflect these dual aspects through our mandate to regularly update the forensic community on the field for the triennial Interpol Forensic Science Symposiums in Lyon (Margot and Lennard 1993; Champod and Margot 1997b, 1998; Meuwly and Margot 2001). We have observed a field that is in rapid progress on both detection and identification issues and, in light of the recent debate on the admissibility of fingerprint evidence in U.S. courts, we have decided to bring together both sides of this discipline within the same volume and to give them the evenhanded critical analysis they deserve. |
