[RJ357]

I always thought that fingerprints never changed. So why do they need new prints every time I renew my CCW?
I asked the officer talking the prints if he knew, and he said it beats the heck out of him; they take his all the time too.

[HankB]

Same thing here in Texas. When I asked, I was told that it was so that the FBI could certify you were actually the person in question, or at least that the prints didn't belong to a felon. So if you were a victim of "identity theft" by a bad guy with a record trying to get a CHL, the prints would tell the tale.

Funny thing . . . each time they took my prints in the class - the first time by a local cop, the second time by a retired Austin PD sergeant - they were blurred, and it cost me $10 to have them re-done at the DPS offices in Austin when I went there to drop off my application and renewal.

I've compared notes with other folks, and this isn't unusual.

So . . . if a cop, using ink, on a regular fingerprint card, with a co-operative subject, has difficulty getting a clear print, just how many of the prints at crime scenes are REALLY good enough for a 100% ID? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

[RJ357]

Even that wasn't proof enough that it was me. I had to go in and pick it up with a photo ID. Something new, since the first issue and the previous renewal were mailed to me.

Must have been a rash of law abiding citizen impersonators.

That's a good point about the fingerprints. I wouldn't be surprised if most of that type evidence was marginal. It probably has more use in getting a confession or plea.

[Coronach]

So . . . if a cop, using ink, on a regular fingerprint card, with a co-operative subject, has difficulty getting a clear print, just how many of the prints at crime scenes are REALLY good enough for a 100% ID? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?Very few.

Most of the prints lifted at crime scenes are worthless, and very few are AFIS quality. You need to pan through a lot of mud before you find your gold flake.

The crapola shown in movies and on TV about how crime scene investigators easily and routinely pull great prints off of every imaginable surface is just that- crapola.

Mike

[Pilgrim]

Funny thing . . . each time they took my prints in the class - the first time by a local cop, the second time by a retired Austin PD sergeant - they were blurred, and it cost me $10 to have them re-done at the DPS offices in Austin when I went there to drop off my application and renewal.

In my experience, the unreadable prints come from using too much ink and pressing down too hard on the card.

Pilgrim

[sendec]

The show "CSI" has done more to damage crime scene management than Dennis Fung on his worst day. If I had a dime for every print I lifted that actually amounted to anything I'd have somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 cents.

The real irony is tying fingerprints to guns, which are notoriously print-unfriendly. They may be a good means of identifying an individual, but they are incredible difficult to locate on a handgun, unless you know where to look, primarily in the area of the;)

[cordex]

primarily in the area of the[...]
If I had to guess, I'd say slide flats and magazine for a semi-auto, and the left side of the barrel, and the cylinder for a revolver. ;)

[TarpleyG]

I have been told by more than one source that your prints do change slightly over time so a print card from 10 years ago might look different than a print card from today. It makes sense I guess.

Greg

[flatrock]

This is a bit morbid, but I suspect they also want to know in the rare cases where the person being printed no longer has all 10 fingertips.

[biere]

As school bus driver I got fingerprinted and the guy doing the prints tossed two good cards before he examined my fingers personally. Since I worked as a mechanic as well, I have scars and at the time had a sliced up fingertip. He pulled the cards he tossed from the trash and said they were acceptable as far as he knew. I do believe he had to put a note in saying the weird marks were from me being someone who worked with his hands.

I honestly go either way since someone who works with their hands will have a build up of skin cells, callouses or whatever that spelling is, and if they change jobs it may change.

Some of the scars I had are still showing in fingerprints, others have faded back a bit and some ridges are visable again.

Overall I think it more a thing of them losing or misfiling stuff, they just want a 2nd or 3rd chance to maybe get things right.

Gee, that last statement must show I have little faith in things funded with tax dollars. Go figure.

I really wonder why criminals who can't own and carry guns aren't registered while law abiding folks are allowed to experience their rights as they were intended?