Daktyloskopia w praktyce organów ścigania
Fingerprint identification in the practice of law enforcement organs

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the problem of usability of traces of fingerprints in the practice of law enforcement organs. The author pays particular attention to this type of traces as individually typical of each human being, reminding that they are traces which each offender leaves on the scene of crime. Their usability does not only allow channeling the identification of the offender who has left the trace, but also offers the possibility of identification of the corpse that cannot be identified upon external examination for different reasons (e.g. dismemberment of the corpse). Moreover, the author draws attention to the diminishing of the possibility of taking advantage of dactyloscopy in fighting crime, which followed as a result of changes to the Act of Police in the part relating to systematic enriching the collections of fingerprint files with copies of individual fingers (fingertips) used in the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). The paper is complemented with an illustration of the external appearance of a deceased person’s face, which excludes any possibility of identification of the corpse, and instances of positive dactyloscopic experts’ assessment.

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