It is long been known and accepted in the forensic science and society in general that no two fingerprints are alike. The reliability of fingerprints as a means of identification has been ingrained in society for over a hundred years, but are they really reliable? Did you know that there is a grand movement to discredit fingerprints in an attempt to hijack forensic science? Why? To hijack forensic science for their own agenda? For notoriety? What is the truth? What are the facts and the fiction with regard to the reliability of fingerprints? Fingerprints are the gold standard in forensic science, even more so than DNA. So why is there so much controversy about the uniqueness of fingerprints? Why are they questioning an established and proven science? A cottage industry has sprung up in the attack on forensic science. Some lawyers and some academics have attacked fingerprints with an agenda, sometimes hidden, to degrade fingerprints, call into question their reliability, taint jury pools, and shake the confidence of forensic experts to devalue their testimony in court. Defense lawyers want to win cases, and academics, wanting to prove a postmodernist point by attempting to apply philosophy to a biological science. Uniqueness exists in the world; these denialists would have you doubt that reality. Written by three retired fingerprint experts with a combined 90 years’ experience, ‘The Hijack of Forensic Science’ analyzes every aspect of these attacks and exposes the agenda, faulty references, leaps of logic, and philosophical muses used by these perpetrators to hijack forensic science.
Steve Scarborough is forensic consultant, an author andretired Forensic Scientist with over 35 years experience in Law Enforcement with Las Vegas MetropolitanPolice Department (yes,The CSI) and the FBI. He has been certified latent print examinersince 1987 and was instrumental in the digital imaging and AFIS projects. Stevehas lectured at law enforcement conferences on manyforensic topics. Steve was recognized internationally(Interpol) for his contributions to forensic science at the International Forensic Science Symposium inLyon, France. His consultancy experience includes training at law enforcementagencies around the U.S. and AFIS consulting in Saudi Arabia. He has almost 30 articles in trade magazines andprofessional journals such as the IAI Journal. Including the articles"Re-Evaluating Latent Print Testimony'" and "Getting the Forensic Facts Right," for TheWriter that also appeared in the Writer's Handbook and three books. Steve cares deeply about the current andfuture state of forensic science in the world.Rick Henning, AFIS Supervisor, LVMPD (retired), BiometricConsultant.
Rick retired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan PoliceDepartment with 32½ years of service as a supervisor over ten print operationsand AFIS system and project management, along with experience in comparativeanalysis, training personnel and developing training programs. Rick hasexperience working with a NIST archive database.
Rick's AFIS experience includes 10 years as a ten printexaminer and AFIS technician, and over 17 years as an AFIS system manager. He was a key participant in AFIS acquisitionsand upgrades, and project manager in these same areas including identifyingsystem and operational needs, developing requests for proposal, implementationplans, training needs, acceptance testing and switchover plans, problemresolution, and handling disaster recovery and database review and correction plans.
Rick is adamant about stopping the dilution of fingerprint testimony.
