Die posisie in die Verenigde State van Amerika

552 Moore 2006:7; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 553 Moore 2006:7; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 554 2005:5. 555 Moore 2006:7; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 556 2005:4.

Die eerste sistematiese gebruik van vingerafdrukke was in 1902 deur die New York Civil Service Commission for Testing in die Verenigde State van Amerika.557 In 1903 het die New York State Prison vir die eerste keer van vingerafdrukke by gevangenisse gebruik gemaak.558 Die Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas en die St. Louis Police Department het in 1904 vir die eerste keer van vingerafdrukke gebruik

begin maak. 559 In 1905 het die Amerikaanse weermag van

vingerafdrukke begin gebruik maak. 560 Twee jaar later het die Amerikaanse lugmag van vingerafdrukke begin gebruik maak561 en in 1908 het die Marine Corps van vingerafdrukke gebruik gemaak.562 Die

lugmag en weermag het dit veral as ’n hulpmiddel vir persoonlike identifikasie van individue gebruik.563

In 1918 het Edmond Locard geskryf dat, indien daar twaalf punte van ooreenstemming by vingerafdrukke teenwoordig was, dit voldoende was om ’n positiewe identifikasie te kon maak. Wat egter belangrik is, is dat

557 Moore 2006:8; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 558 Moore 2006:8; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 559 Moore 2006:8; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 560 Moore 2006:8; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 561 Moore 2006:8; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 562 Moore 2006:7; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 563

Mnookin 2001:20 - … the only American institutions that identified people on the basis of

fingerprints alone prior to 1910 were civil, rather than criminal. The military, in particular, regularly took recruits’ fingerprints. In 1910 fingerprinting was used for the first time as the exclusive basis for criminal identification to detect recidivist prostitutes in New York.

daar geen vereiste aantal punte van ooreenstemming moet wees, alvorens ’n identifikasie gemaak kan word nie.564

In 1924 is die Identification Division of the Federal Bureau of

Investigation deur middel van wetgewing geskep.565

Volgens Mnookin566 het die Federal Bureau of Investigation reeds in 1904 met die neem van vingerafdrukke begin. In 1946 het die Federal

Bureau of Investigation reeds 100 miljoen vingerafdrukke geprosesseer,

die sogenaamde fingerprint cards.567 Aan die einde van 1971 het reeds 200 miljoen soortgelyke kaarte bestaan.568

Met die ontwikkeling van die Federal Bureau of Investigation se

Automated Fingerprint Identification System is hierdie kaarte in twee

groepe verdeel, naamlik die gerekenariseerde lêers vir strafdoeleindes en ander siviele lêers. 569 Adkins 570 omskryf hierdie Automated

Fingerprint Identification System as ’n nasionale vingerafdrukdatabasis

en dit is die grootste vingerafdrukstelsel ter wêreld.

564

Moore 2006:10; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17 - Some countries have set

their own standards which do include a minimum number of points, but not in the United States.

565

Moore 2006:6; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17 - The National Bureau and

Leavenworth consolidated to form the nucleus of the F.B.I. fingerprint files.

566 2001:20. 567 Moore 2006:6; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 568 Moore 2006:6; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17. 569

Moore 2006:6; http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Op 2006/06/17 - Many of the manual files

were duplicates though, the records actually represented somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 million criminals, and an unknown number of individuals in the civil files.

570

Adkins571 merk in hierdie verband as volg op:

It is the largest print system in the world. In the 1990s, fingerprints were the standard used by law enforcement officials. Much of the attention was given to shifting from ink and paper to livescan and electronic submissions. Today, concerns are international travel and trade considerations.572

Kobilinsky ea 573 omskryf die Automated Fingerprint Identification

Systems se werking as volg:

Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems scan a fingerprint image and convert the minutiae to digital information.

Biometriese stelsels 574 is tans ’n belangrike hulpmiddel by die identifikasie van persone.575 Volgens Adkins576 hou biometriese stelsels verskeie voordele vir die gebruik deur wetstoepassers in, soos

571 2007:543. 572 Adkins 2007:543-544. 573 2005:5. 574

Adkins 2007:542 – Biometrics is the measuring of physical or behavioral characteristics to

verify a person’s identity.

575

Adkins 2007:541-543 – Biometric systems offer a unique solution by aiding government

officials (and businesses) in determining who to include and who to exclude with speed, accuracy and convenience.

576

2007:546 - Biometric systems can also combat phishing and identity fraud, the fastest

byvoorbeeld om bedrog te bekamp. Biometriese stelsels is ’n spoedige, effektiewe en akkurate hulpmiddel vir wetstoepassers.577

Van der Merwe578 het die voordele van die Automated Fingerprint

Identification System as volg opgesom:

• Automated fingerprint searches will enable the police to

identify criminals at a faster pace. This will reduce the time that awaiting trial prisoners spend in the cells before sentencing, thus saving money for the taxpayer.

• Bail opposing reports will be produced more speedily,

resulting in hardened criminals being less likely to receive bail.

• The processing of applications for fingerprint searches done

for other reasons, eg the issuing of firearm licences, behaviour certificates, professional driver’s certificates and pre-employment fingerprint searches will be conducted more expediously.

Adkins579 meen dat hierdie metode verdere voordele insluit, naamlik dat dit ’n gerieflike manier is om identiteit vas te stel:

As more and more people begin to scan their fingers (or hand, iris,

577

Adkins 2007:546 - Biometric systems offer a unique solution by aiding government officials in

determining who to include and who to exclude with speed, accuracy and convenience.

578

2001:28.

579

2007:551 - Some might even prefer to have a finger scanned if it can resolve questions of

etc) to enter their local gym or pay for groceries, the more common these biometric systems become.580

Mnookin581 som die ontwikkeling van getuienis rakende vingerafdrukke in die Amerikaanse howe as volg op:

Overall, what we see in the early history of fingerprinting is enormously rapid acceptance by courts without a great deal of careful scrutiny. The use of visual representations of the fingerprints themselves, carefully marked to emphasize the points of similarity, was part and parcel of the presentation of fingerprint evidence in court.