Criminal Identification 1

Criminal Identification Procedures in the 21

st
Century
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Criminal Identification 2

Criminal Identification Procedures in the 21
st
Century
Many new technologies have aided criminal justice professionals in investigating and
prosecuting criminal offenders. These new technologies help the police to identify criminal
offenders through the use of fingerprints and DNA and track their movements through camera
surveillance and wire taps. Specialized databases allow the police to share information and
communicate more effectively with other law enforcement agencies and provide prosecutors
with evidence to prosecute the offenders. Even those these new technologies can benefit the
criminal justice system it can also can result in conflict within society when the rights of citizens
are threatened.
There have been many new innovations that have made performing the duties of a police
officer or prosecutor more effective and efficient in the criminal justice system. DNA analysis is
a type of human fingerprinting that allows the forensic scientist to create a profile of an
individuals genetic makeup. This new technology appeared in the mid 1980s and created a new
method for performing human identity testing. The past 25 years have seen tremendous growth
in the use of DNA evidence in crime scene investigations as well as paternity testing (DNA.gov,
2009). The forensic material that is gathered at a crime scene is tested for DNA. The collected
genetic material will then be matched to criminal suspects or used to be matched against known
offenders in the DNA criminal database.
When DNA is gathered by forensic scientists it is stored in the Combined DNA Index System
or CODIS. This specialized database is then shared with law enforcement agencies across the
nation. DNA evidence found at a crime scene will then be enter into CODIS to determine if there
is a match to a known offender. This database also stores the DNA of government and civil
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service workers. The CODIS Unit also provides administrative management and support to the
FBI for various advisory boards, Department of Justice (DOJ) grant programs, and legislation
regarding DNA (FBI, 2008).
Fingerprint technology has been used to identify people for over a hundred years. In the past
law enforcement had to spend tedious hours matching fingerprints by hand. A new fingerprint
specialized database, Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), makes it
more efficient for police officers when making fingerprint matches. Fingerprints are stored in the
database and match to fingerprints found at crime scenes. This database was established by the
F.B.I. and shares information with law enforcement agencies across the country.
New camera surveillance technologies are used to ticket traffic violators and to provide
security for areas in the community. In the United States, current anti-terrorist fears, combined
with the surge in road rage, the perception of an increase in crime, and several high-profile
school shootings, are causing many to call for increased video surveillance not only on
highways, in schools, public parks and government buildings, but in all public spaces (Nelligan,
2008). This new technology prevents crime and reduces the number of traffic violations. It
enables police to investigate crimes in public places where there is no expectation of privacy by
citizens.
Wire taps are as a means used by law enforcement to eavesdrop into the private conservations
of citizens. The police require a warrant from a judge in order to attain permission to listen to a
criminal suspects private communications. Before the terrorists attacks on September 11, 2001
the police were rarely afforded the right to attain wire taps against criminal suspects but new
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legislation such as; the USA Patriot Act, has allowed law enforcement more freedom in gaining
access to this technology.









References
(2008). Federal Bureau of Investigations: Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Retrieved
July 30, 2010 from http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/html/codis1.htm
(2009). NHA Initiative: History of Forensic DNA Analysis. Retrieved July 30, 2010 from
http://www.dna.gov/basics/analysishistory/
Nelligan, M. (2008). Video Surveillance. Retrieved July 29, 2010 from
http://epic.org/privacy/surveillance/
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