Police academy or Finger printing or Federal, state local agency Essay

Police academy or Finger printing or Federal, state local agency qualifications chose one of the three topic that you feel comfortable with - Essay Example cted the practice of law enforcement, the history of the technique, legal and ethical issues involving the use of the technique, practical implications of the technique for law enforcement personal at various levels, and future prospects for fingerprinting must be analyzed. Finger prints have had many definitions throughout history, and have been used in art, science, and law enforcement. The contemporary definition of a fingerprint states that a finger print can be defined as the unique pattern created by the friction ridges on all or part of a digit, or finger (â€Å"Glossary†, 2009). The term friction ridge is not intuitive. Friction ridges rare the scientific name for the raised portion of the outermost layer of skin, called the epidermis, that forms the unique shapes found in fingerprints (â€Å"Glossary†, 2009). Friction ridges form on the fingers, palm, toes, and soles of the feet of the fetus before it is born (Cowger, 1992, p.1). Despite the growth that occurs in childhood and adolescence, the patter of the friction ridges does not change, and thus provides the only physical characteristic of human kind with the specificity to identify an individual. Human beings first noticed fingerprints in prehistoric times. The earliest fingerprints are included as decorative elements in cave paintings found in Nova Scotia that date back thousands of years (German, 2006). In ancient Babylon, merchants recognized that though many people have similar patterns, no two individuals have the same exact fingerprint. These merchants used fingerprints as official seals on business agreements, much as contemporary merchants would use a Federal Identification or Social Security number (German, 2006). Similar methods of using fingerprints to identify merchants and government officials were found in fourteenth century Persia and China (German, 2006). These cultures made use of the impressions left by fingerprints as a tool for identification on documents, but did little