How come they have so many fingerprints without a match? Here, in Serbia, whoever turns 16 is obliged to have his/her ID made, and in the process one leaves it's print at the police station. Isn't that done in every country?
I've lived in both countries. Also, I worked for a while in a real Forensic Identification department for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and did fingerprinting as part of my job.
In the US (and in Canada) fingerprinting is done for many reasons but is only mandatory for a few things. All military service people are fingerprinted in the US (I think in Canada too but not certain) and their records are part of the public file. So mine are, for instance, from my time in the USAF. Parents can elect to have their kids fingerprinted, and many do, for identification purposes if they are lost or kidnapped or worse, found injured or dead.
Criminals are, of course, fingerprinted. So is everyone in Canada who wants to apply for a pardon. That's what I used to spend every Tuesday doing.
So here, it isn't universal. Making it so would be a huge kerfuffle from folks who believe in privacy over public safety.
Oh, CSI and shows like that frequently feature very bad science and a lot of faux police procedures. Also budgets that real Ident departments only dream of in their most extreme fantasies.
May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places you must walk.
Old Egyptian Blessing
Old Egyptian Blessing
Fingerprint question
- 28/02/2010 06:28:46 PM
655 Views
Re: Fingerprint question
- 28/02/2010 06:35:20 PM
442 Views
There are a few significant ways in which Norway reminds me of the US.
- 28/02/2010 08:01:01 PM
434 Views
in the US it is considered an invasion of privacy to have mandatory fingerprinting
- 28/02/2010 06:38:44 PM
452 Views
Re: in the US it is considered an invasion of privacy to have mandatory fingerprinting
- 28/02/2010 06:42:34 PM
458 Views
We're fairly touchy about privacy issues in the US.
- 28/02/2010 07:11:04 PM
431 Views
Actually, I read an NYT article just yesterday saying the exact opposite...
- 01/03/2010 06:19:34 PM
428 Views
Here in Sweden they take fingerprints if you have committed a crime.
- 28/02/2010 07:26:07 PM
444 Views
Fingerprints aren't the irrefutable evidence most people believe anyway.
- 28/02/2010 08:03:16 PM
539 Views
Not in the US or in Canada, no
- 03/03/2010 06:35:25 PM
420 Views
Don't forget all tourists... if one considers those separately from the criminals category, anyway. *NM*
- 03/03/2010 10:33:06 PM
158 Views
Re: Fingerprint question
- 03/03/2010 10:12:08 PM
382 Views