How and Why I Became a Fingerprint Expert?

I absolutely love my job with a passion and I can't ever see myself doing anything else, funny thing is I wanted to be criminal law solicitor when I was younger.

When I was doing my GCSE's and had to regularly see a careers adviser I always wanted to be a criminal law solicitor - must be something to do with the fact that I like a good old argument. I remember telling the careers adviser I wanted to be a solicitor only to be told - 'Your grades for GCSE won't be good enough'. I thought oh well, I'll think of something else then. I had family who were police officers and so thought I'd like to do something like that. Problem was, I was a bit of a wimp, facing criminals and having to be brave on a daily basis, Could You? I couldn't, what can I do instead. My sister suggested Criminology - I had no idea what it was but yes, I want to be a Criminologist.

I did my GCSE's, I got 8 A*-C grades, it was enough to allow me to stay on in sixth form and do my A-Levels. I chose English Literature, Biology, Maths and General Studies. The first year went OK, It was hard but I was getting through. I chose my University options, Northampton was my top choice, I needed 3 C's to get on my course to do a Degree in Criminology. My second year was not so good, I was 17, I got myself a boyfriend, started to learn to drive and started going out. I lost my way doing my A-Levels, I dropped English Literature - Too many books to read, I failed Maths - Maths A-Level is hard!! I also failed General Studies - I didn't think it was possible to fail General Studies. I got an E in Biology.

Armed with my E, N (General Studies) and U (Maths) I approached my head of year to find out if I had got my place at Northampton University - it didn't look promising. They said the best they could do was to defer me for a year for me to do re-takes. I agreed knowing full well I wasn't going to do re-takes, why would I when I had a boyfriend and I could drive. Oh how your priorities are all wrong as a teenager.

I spent the next two years working in admin, yes I worked my way up from £9k a year to £14.5k a year over that time, but I was better than that, I wanted to be a Criminologist! I reapplied for university, this time I applied for a Higher National Diploma and I got in. I would spend the next two years of my life working part time jobs and completing a Higher National Diploma in Forensic Science, Criminology and Law.

I eventually passed my diploma with a distinction, my priorities had changed and I was ready to work hard. Only problem now, I hated the Criminology part if the course - even to this day I don't quite understand what Criminology is. What I had enjoyed about the course was Crime Scene Investigation - now I want to be a CSI.

I now start applying for all Forensic related jobs, Trainee Scene of Crime Officer, Fingerprint Assistant, Forensic Vehicle Examiner - I haven't got enough experience. I see a job for an administration officer within a Fingerprint Bureau called a 'Tenprint Officer' - no idea what it is but its in a 'Fingerprint Bureau' so therefore slightly related to Forensics. I apply and get the job: starting salary £14k....what?!! £14k!! I was on £14.5 before I started my university course! I started the job in January 2005, by May 2005 I had applied internally and got a job as a Fingerprint Assistant, I was working my way up. The pay rise was a nice one. After some training I started my new role in October 2005.

I shall do a full blog on the training of a Fingerprint Expert next, but for this part all you need to know is that part of Fingerprint Training involves a 2 week attachment with a CSI. It was a brilliant 2 weeks but I had that same old problem that you had to be brave, be on the front line, face things daily that are upsetting, sometimes disturbing, you had to go to burglary scenes, rape scenes, murder scenes...the mortuary, Could You? I couldn't. Returning to the Fingerprint Bureau was where I wanted to be, I want to be a Fingerprint Expert.

7 years later, here I am, I've been a qualified Fingerprint Expert for just over 1 year. I love it. I guess everything pans out for a reason, I thought after failing my A'Levels I wouldn't get anywhere but I did. I wish I could explain to teenagers doing their A-Levels how important they are, especially as the world of Forensics is now so competitive. I got in just in time.

Until my next blog xx

How Fingerprints Develop and Why they are Unique.

The areas of skin which provide a fingerprint is known as Friction Ridge Skin. Friction Ridge Skin develops between 6 and 24 weeks of foetal development.

Around 6 weeks, the hands begin to take shape and bulges appear which are known as volar pads. It is the internal and external pressures and stresses within the womb that affect the development of these bulges and along with genetics help determine the patterns of the fingerprints.

At around 8 weeks the fingers seperately and the three main creases of the palm appear. At around 13 weeks the volar pads start to regress.

Friction Ridge Skin is composed of 2 layers - an inner layer called the dermis and an outer layer called the epidermis. The epidermis consists of four layers, the top layer being the surface of the friction ridge skin which is constantly shredding and the bottom layer known as the generating layer. The generating layer is constantly replacing the top layer which has previously shed.

At 13 weeks, ridges begin to form in the generating layer. Due to a combination of genetics and various stresses exerted on the developing foetus which are so unpredicable and unique to that pregnancy that it is impossible to replicate. The generating layer will continue to generate the same friction ridge structure throughout life and the friction ridge structure will remain unchanged. This is how every fingerprint is unique , including those of twins.

At 24 weeks of foetal development the friction ridge skin is fully formed and is persistent throughout life.

What is a Fingerprint?

What is a Fingerprint? Perfectly acceptable post for a Fingerprint Experts Blog one thinks.

The skin surface of the fingers, palms and soles of the feet is different to the rest of the body surface. If you look at the inner surface of your hands and soles of the feet you will see a series of lines made up of elevations which we call 'ridges' and depressions which we call 'furrows'.

These ridges and furrows can be recorded in many ways. For example, the ridges can be inked and placed on to a piece of paper. This would leave a fingerprint like below. The black lines represent the ridges and the white lines represent the furrows.

These lines can create 3 types of patterns. These are shown below:

  

Within these patterns the ridges can split or end creating ridge characteristics. There are 6 types of ridge characteristics.

Everyone has a unique and different distribution of these characteristics that develop in the womb and are persistent throughout life.

It is the coincidence sequence of these characteristics that allow me to make identifications. The coincidence sequence is whereby I will find the same characteristics, in the same order with the same relationship to each other in both the crime scene fingerprint and the fingerprint on the form I am using.

It is only when I find sufficient ridge details in agreement and none in disagreement that I will make an identification.

Until next time!

Why do I want to Blog?

I see so many topics on twitter that I would love to get involved in, I love healthy debates. The problem is that when you work for a Police Force you have to be mindful of what you say and do. Infact, that is true of any employee/employer relationship. When you tweet/blog you put an opinion out there for people to see and you should always be mindful of how far that opinion can go, something in recent weeks people seem to have forgot. (Myself included) I encourage healthy discussion on here, I dont intend to offend anybody. There are a few topics I am itching to get written down and so can't wait to get started! The other reason that I have decided to start a blog is simply because 140 characters isn't enough on Twitter!