J. EDGAR HOOVER,
Director.

CONTENTS

ChapterPage
[Introduction] [iii]
[I. The Identification Division of the FBI] [1]
[II. Types of Patterns and Their Interpretation] [5]
[III. Questionable Patterns] [71]
[IV. The Classification Formula and Extensions] [87]
[V. Classification of Scarred Patterns—Amputation—Missing at Birth] [98]
[VI. Filing Sequence] [103]
[VII. Searching and Referencing] [109]
[VIII. How To Take Inked Fingerprints] [114]
[IX. Problems in the Taking of Inked Fingerprints] [118]
[X. Problems and Practices in Fingerprinting the Dead] [131]
[XI. Establishment of a Local Fingerprint Identification Bureau] [160]
[XII. Latent Impressions] [173]
[XIII. Powdering and Lifting Latent Impressions] [175]
[XIV. Chemical Development of Latent Impressions] [177]
[XV. The Use of the Fingerprint Camera] [184]
[XVI. Preparation of Fingerprint Charts for Court Testimony] [190]
[XVII. Unidentified Latent Fingerprint File] [194]

CHAPTER I

The Identification Division of the FBI

The FBI Identification Division was established in 1924 when the records of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Leavenworth Penitentiary Bureau were consolidated in Washington, D.C. The original collection of only 810,000 fingerprint cards has expanded into many millions. The establishment of the FBI Identification Division resulted from the fact that police officials of the Nation saw the need for a centralized pooling of all fingerprint cards and all arrest records.