3M Cogent Showcases New AFIS Features at International Association for Identification Conference

3M will present the latest features of its flagship Cogent Automated Fingerprint and Palmprint Identification System (CAFIS) client application at the International Association for Identification’s Annual Education Conference, held Aug. 10-16 in Minneapolis, MN, and attended by more than 1,000 forensic professionals.

The company will demonstrate new features, including automated left-right reversal latent print searching capability and GYRO fingerprint marking methodology support, both designed to further improve the efficiency of the latent print examination process. Latent prints are non-visible fingerprints found on a surface, usually in a crime scene, and processed into a viewable image. These latent images are then matched against a fingerprint database.

3M CAFIS’s new automated left-right reversal latent print searching feature, called 4D searching, significantly streamlines the latent print examination process by eliminating the need for the examiner to restart the processing process. As part of a collaboration with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (MN BCA) to address specific examination needs dealing with case-specific latent print examination process, 3M Cogent reconfigured its CAFIS into a “Case-Specific AFIS” to provide the advanced latent print searching technologies as a laboratory stand-alone comparison tool.

This novel use of AFIS technology can significantly reduce the lengthy manual comparison process, can act as an add-on quality system review tool, or can aid in the decision making/verification process. The research was featured in the article “Apply AFIS Case by Case” in the June/July 2014 issue of Forensic Magazine: www.forensicmag.com/articles/2014/06/applying-afis-case-case.

“The inclusion of GYRO helps transform the AFIS environment from a stand-alone tool to a case-working environment that begins to capture the entire ACE-V process,” explained Dr. Glenn Langenburg, certified latent fingerprint examiner for MN BCA and owner/founder of Elite Forensic Services, LLC. “GYRO documentation increases transparency and provides more insight into the decision-making process of the examiner. The demand for this transparency has been growing in the last decade from the increased scrutiny and legal challenges to fingerprint evidence.”

“We are pleased to be the first AFIS to support the use of the GYRO marking system. Working closely with Dr. Langenburg, we were able to implement this feature without affecting the transparency of the methodology and the efficiencies of the AFIS workflow process.” said Teresa Wu, global software solution marketer at 3M Cogent, Inc. “We look forward to further collaboration with forensic industry leaders to continue to bring new innovative features to address our customers’ needs and challenges.”