Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-22
Chiefs of Police of Nation Declare
System Is Invaluable in Keep
ing Track of Criminals.
METHOD is INEXPENSIVE ONE
Convention Of Detectives Agrees
That Accuracy Has at Last
Been Established.
By Jonathan Winfield.

WASHINGTON, June 21.-The big
gest obstacle to the criminal of to-
day is the finger print" system.
Five hundred criminal catchers who
are in Washington will bear witness
to the fact. They are attending the
twentieth annual convention of the
International Association of Chiefs
of Police
Hailing from all parts Of the world,
these half a thousand police heads
gather yearly to talk over the best
ways and means for outwitting their
arch enemy-the crook.
This year they agree that the best
stepping stone to the penitentiary for
the criminal is the finger print sys-
TEN. The system is not new. Its
story has been told and retold, but
it is as interesting as the wondrous
tale of the wireless telegraph and
flying machine.
System Is Perfected.
The latest telling of the finger print
system story was at the police chiefs
convention and the climax of the
tale was that the system has at last
been perfected II has gained univer-
sal recognition. 1t IS established.
When scientists some few years ago
first told the tale of the finger prints
the police We're dubious. They looked
at finger prints on white pieces of pa
per and shook their heads.
The little black and white lines and
circles, forming the impression of
finger on paper, seemed more a Chi
nese puzzle than a way to identify a
criminal. But the scientists continued
talking, the police continued listening
and the finger print system came into
its own.
First, it must be known that one
Of the chief tasks Of the police is iden-
tifying criminals. A man may be ar
rested on suspicion in San Francisco,
locked in a cell merely on the suppO-
sition that he is bad character.
Finger Prints Tell Tale.
His finger prints are sent away.
Back comes a telegram saying that
the owner Of the finger prints is John
Doe, alias Jack Deer, eX-convict, pro-
fessional second story robber and all
round crook.
Just a few months ago the Wash
ington police had the value of the
system demonstrated forcibly A man
was sent to a hospital, apparently
dazed and suffering from aphasia.
He did not remember his name, where
he came from or any of the other facts
about himself that all nice citizens
should know His finger prints were
taken A copy of the prints were sent
to the Navy Department
Thirty minutes elapsed and the Ma
w Department told the police all
about the owner of the finger prints.
He was a deserter from the navy His
lack of memory was a bluff The
deserter is now serving time.
system Is inexpensive.
The chiefs agree that the system
is the most accurate and inexpensive
method of identification. The para
phernaiia for making a finger print
costs so little and is so easy to use
that any ten-year- old school boy may
have a little system of his own. A
piece of glass, some printers ink, a
rubber roller and sheets OF ordinary
white paper complete the outfit.
The ink should be smeared on the
glass and spread evenly over the sur
face with the rubber roller. The
finger is placed in the ink and then
on the paper. When the finger is
removed the paper shows a perfect
reproduction Of the lines and circles
of the finger
When criminal is captured,
whether by the police of New York
City or Kalamazoo, his finger i'm
pressions are taken The prints are
forwarded to the National Bureau of
Criminal Identification in Washing
ton. A brief study Of the finger
prints by the expert in charge of the
bureau enables him to speedily ascer
tain if a set of the criminals finger
prints are already in the bureau. If
the criminal has never been arrested
before, his finger prints are filed.