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Fingerprint examiner: 'They put pressure on you shamelessly'

Having recently seen Houston PD release a majority of its fingerprint examiners for errors and possible misconduct, I was interested to see this story from Missouri Lawyers Media describing how police sometimes pressure forensic fingerprint examiners to match prints to their suspects:A police officer rushes up to the fingerprint examiner and pleads for help.The suspect sitting in the interrogation room is as guilty as can be, the officer insists, and a confirmed fingerprint match would surely bring about a confession.Not exactly the environment to produce an unbiased examination.But neither is it far-fetched in the sometimes boiling climate of crime-fighting. Police officers want arrests to stick, they want to get criminals off the street, and if the system allows them such access to the key processors of information, well, some officers will take advantage...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on December 24, 2009 (boomark / email).