THE
POWER OF THE FINGERPRINT
You Can Run, But You Can't Hide
10/12/04
Three recent cases
have gotten dangerous criminals off our streets...thanks to IAFIS (the
FBI's "Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System").
What's IAFIS? It's
a national fingerprint database that combines with criminal histories,
mugshots, scar/tattoo photos, height, weight, hair and eye color, and
aliases to help us match up evidence with identities...even when those
identities have run far away from the scene of the crime.
1. The
case of the cocaine murderer: This April, a man was arrested
in Connecticut by a drug task force for possession of cocaine. He was
fingerprinted, and his electronic prints were sent to IAFIS. Ten minutes
later: MATCH! Turns out he'd been wanted in Miami since September 2002
for fleeing the state to avoid being prosecuted for homicide...and
he'd been wanted in Fort Lauderdale since October 2003 on homicide
charges. In no time he was picked up and extradited to Florida for
prosecution.
2. The
case of the vicious rapist: This June, a man was arrested
by police in New Jersey for simple assault and endangering the welfare
of children. That turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. When officers
fingerprinted the man and sent his prints to IAFIS...13 minutes later,
MATCH! Turns out he'd been wanted in Norfolk, Virginia, since October
2000 for rape and sexual abduction...and he'd been wanted in Yorktown,
Virginia, since May 2001 for kidnapping/sexual assault. In no time
he was facing charges in New Jersey before being shipped off to Virginia
to face charges there.
3. The
case of the Christmas murderer: This September, a 57-year-old
man was arrested in Massachusetts for slashing another man with a pocket
knife. They'd been on a public bus; words were exchanged; and out came
the knife. Fingerprints were taken at the booking station and sent
to IAFIS. MATCH! Turns out he was the man accused of a horrific crime
in Baltimore in 1974. It was Christmas eve 30 years ago when police
department employee McKinley Johnson was helping put together food
baskets for the poor. Suddenly a young man approached and stole a can
of lunch meat from one of the baskets. Johnson ran after him--and the
thief shot him point blank. Before dying, Johnson identified his alleged
assailant from photographs...and the hunt has been on ever since.
Since that time, the
suspect has lived in different places, assumed 10 different identities,
and been arrested five times in Boston in the 1980s for charges from
shoplifting to weapon possession. In the meantime, though, IAFIS was
created, allowing matches of fingerprints nationwide. And so, with the
slash of a pocket knife, 30 years on the run came to an end. Thank goodness.
Links: Read
all about IAFIS and other fingerprint
programs besides.