Palmar Flexion Crease Identification - Essay Example

Therefore, palmar flexion crease identification is a method used to verify as well as establish a person’s identity. The process entails matching palm prints from an unknown person against prints stored in the database so as to identify the true identity of the individual under investigation. The recent technological advancements in forensic science have contributed towards the developments of new and sophisticated methods of establishing an identity as per palmar flexion crease identification.

According to the research done by Thomas Charles, the main methods of palmar flexion crease are automated and manual palmar flexion crease identification (Cook 2012). There are various steps followed while conducting a manual palmar flexion crease identification method. Palmar flexion creases provide reliable information for establishing the identity of a person. The process starts by collecting palm print images by the use of digital cameras, digital videos, palmar marks, and scanners (Cook 2012).

The images can either be scanned or live from crime scenes. The identification process is similar to that applied while using fingerprints. A fingerprint expert is the one to conduct an investigation by collecting mutinied from crime scenes or any other scenes of interest. He or she then compares the collected images with those stored in the database to establish the identity of the person.Automated palmar flexion crease identification process has gained a lot of relevance in different fields such as forensic science, biometrics, and law enforcement.

Many countries such as the US and UK have integrated palm print identification with their national with identification systems of fingerprints (Cook 2012). A complete automated palmar flexion crease identification method is carried through four stages. The stages are acquisition, pre-processing followed by feature extraction, and lastly matching. The palm print can either capture online or offline, then taken through the analysis stage to get rid of distortions before undergoing line-based feature extraction to be used during the matching stage.

On the other hand, the method of friction ridge identification makes use of four stages to establish the true identity of the person. In the beginning, the process requires services from an expert to carry out analysis aimed at determining the quality of impression made by friction ridge on the skin (Cook 2012). If the results obtained after analysis shows the desired quality of friction ridge on the skin, the expert then carries out a comparison with the known print. The fingerprint expert then performs an evaluation of the results from the comparison stage to arrive at a conclusion (Ferriola 2002).

Although the expert comes up with a conclusion based on his or her evaluation, the decision has to be verified. Verification is necessary to avoid misrepresentation that may arise from one’s subjective opinion. Comparing the two main methods of identifications, it is clear that friction ridge identification is more reliable than palmar flexion crease identification. Although experts are involved in the various stages of the identification process of each method, only friction ridge identification offers an opportunity for expert opinion to be verified before being accepted.

In both manual and automated methods of conducting palmar flexion crease identification, the results presented by the fingerprint expert are not subject to verification. The information is accepted as a true identity.