Becoming a Forensics Fingerprint Classifier

The following article outlines the job duties, training involved, salary expectations and future prospects of taking on a career as a Forensics Fingerprint Classifier.

Preview:

Fingerprint classifiers, also known as, fingerprint identification officers, identify record, and collect a range of forensic evidence, including fingerprints, from scenes of crimes. These finger prints are then classified, catalogued, and compared with records in existing collections to establish the identity and trace the previous record, if any, of criminals. The job title, the level, the range of work covered, and the employing organization vary in different countries.

The Job:

A t the scene of a crime, fingerprint classifiers examine the premises by dusting glass, walls, windows, furniture, and objects with fine aluminum powder. This contrasts with the surface and highlights any fingerprints. The fingerprints are usually lifted off surfaces using flexible, low- adhesive tape. Each print is put onto a card, carefully labeled, and taken back to the laboratory or police station.

Fingerprint classifiers/identification officers, particularly when called scenes of crime officers, may also take notes, photographs, and collect forensic samples. In cases of murder, they may attend the post mortem and take further fingerprints and photograph the injuries of the deceased.

Later the fingerprints from the scene of crime are classified, catalogued, and compared with existing records to see whether these new fingerprints match with any of those recorded from previous crimes, or whether they match the fingerprints of people with previous criminal records.

This new fingerprint information is documented and transferred to a main database, but identification officers may also maintain their own individual files on current crime cases to keep a check on similarities between fingerprint records. Fingerprint records on the database are also used to establish the identity of unknown corpses.

Forensic scientists who become experts in obtaining fingerprints from physical evidence brought back to the laboratory, on such things as guns or clothing, and in fingerprint identification, may become expert witnesses in court cases.

Most countries have a national repository and clearing house, containing millions of fingerprint records, which provide a range of services. Officers identify and maintain fingerprint records of arrested suspects and also the fingerprints of applicants for sensitive jobs. They examine the physical evidence and give testimony in court, and they also train others in fingerprinting science. Part of their job maybe to identify unidentified corpses and people suffering from amnesia.

Fingerprint classifiers/identification officers work in laboratories, police stations, and offices, as well as traveling to scenes of crimes.

Training Involved:

Most training for fingerprint classifiers/identification officers/scenes of crime officers is on the job, but specialist in-house courses may be provided either by the employing laboratory or police force or by the national fingerprint repository.

Applicants are usually carefully screened and they may have to pass an entrance examination.

Useful Qualifications to Have:

Useful subjects include: sciences and computing.

Salary Expectations:

The base salary range of a Forensics Fingerprint Classifier ranges from $42,483 to $76,126 annually, while the median salary for most Forensics Fingerprint Classifiers is $63,530 annually. (US Base Pay)

Future Prospects:

Fingerprint classifiers, whatever their job title, are usually civilian specialists. They may work for forensic science laboratories, law enforcement departments, local police forces, or national agencies.

In countries where different aspects of fingerprint work, such as scenes of crime work and fingerprint classification, are considered to be different occupations, there may be possibilities for internal transfer and/or promotion.

The number of civilians employed by police forces and the range of work covered are increasing slowly in most countries, but fingerprint work is a comparatively small employment field.

There are usually limited promotion prospects except in larger organizations. Promotion may be possible by moving from police departments to different government agencies or to national fingerprint repositories.

For further information, contact local, state, or federal police or low enforcement agencies or forensic science laboratories.