Scholars Challenge the Infallibility of Fingerprints.

HUMAN fingerprints; FORENSIC sciences; COLE, Simon A.; JAIN, Anil K.; CRIMINAL law; DROR, Itiel; CRIMINAL investigation; COLLEGE teachers; UNIVERSITY faculty

The article highlights the work of Simon A. Cole, an assistant professor of criminology, law, and society at the University of California at Irvine, who is leading efforts to test and improve the accuracy of fingerprinting for use in criminal investigations. Researchers in other fields who share his skepticism about the scientific accuracy of finger printing are also noted, including Anil K. Jain, a professor of computer science and engineering at Michigan State University, who created the International Fingerprint Verification Competition, and Itiel Dror, a senior lecturer in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Southampton, in England, who has studied the limitations of human cognition and the potential for fingerprint examiner error. Various perspectives are presented.