Re: Investigation Reveals Fingerprint ID Flaws at DPD
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:57 am
CBS Channel 4's Brian Maass had a story on TV and on the internet about a problem at the Denver Police Department. The story has to do with work in the Identification Section and not in the Latent Fingerprint Section. The ID section classes and searches fingerprint cards on parties arrested by the DPD. They still use the Henry system to file the cards.
From Maass's article employee Russell Harris was fired for poor work ethics and not following proper procedures with regards to classing and searching arrest cards. Harris had an error rate that would embarrass the good employees in this section. He was eventually fired. A fellow employee Shannon Clamenti tried to aid Russell Harris with an upcoming employee hearing and she was let go as an employee from the DPD ID Section. They both went to Brian Maass with their stories.
The errors they refer to have to do with classing and searching a fingerprint card. The possibility of a false arrest due to their errors is hardly possible as arrest identifications are verified with the A.F.I.S. system and another employee. The error file they referred to is a file with cards in it, which have been found while searching a fingerprint card. Errors such as finding another card with a wrong class or filed wrong. The error card is put in the file for a person who is assigned to a specific Henry section and then the card is corrected and refiled. The error file is supposed to be checked regularly. The only major problem of not correcting a found card with an error is that a double arrest number would be assigned to one person.
The ID section is continually trying to improve its work policies as accreditation is inevitable. Brian Maass had a Dianna Taylor's comments on this occurrence in his article which appeared to be taken out of contexts. From her web site http://WWW.Deadmentalk.com, she is an Arson investigator and not a fingerprint examiner.
This article and TV story have nothing to do with Latent Fingerprint examinations. The Denver Police Department Laboratory and Latent Fingerprint Section are ISO certified.
I hope this clears up some of the questions and anyone can contact me.
Charles Martinez LFPE
Denver Police Latent Fingerprint Section
720-913-6474
chmartinez.martinez@denvergov.org
From Maass's article employee Russell Harris was fired for poor work ethics and not following proper procedures with regards to classing and searching arrest cards. Harris had an error rate that would embarrass the good employees in this section. He was eventually fired. A fellow employee Shannon Clamenti tried to aid Russell Harris with an upcoming employee hearing and she was let go as an employee from the DPD ID Section. They both went to Brian Maass with their stories.
The errors they refer to have to do with classing and searching a fingerprint card. The possibility of a false arrest due to their errors is hardly possible as arrest identifications are verified with the A.F.I.S. system and another employee. The error file they referred to is a file with cards in it, which have been found while searching a fingerprint card. Errors such as finding another card with a wrong class or filed wrong. The error card is put in the file for a person who is assigned to a specific Henry section and then the card is corrected and refiled. The error file is supposed to be checked regularly. The only major problem of not correcting a found card with an error is that a double arrest number would be assigned to one person.
The ID section is continually trying to improve its work policies as accreditation is inevitable. Brian Maass had a Dianna Taylor's comments on this occurrence in his article which appeared to be taken out of contexts. From her web site http://WWW.Deadmentalk.com, she is an Arson investigator and not a fingerprint examiner.
This article and TV story have nothing to do with Latent Fingerprint examinations. The Denver Police Department Laboratory and Latent Fingerprint Section are ISO certified.
I hope this clears up some of the questions and anyone can contact me.
Charles Martinez LFPE
Denver Police Latent Fingerprint Section
720-913-6474
chmartinez.martinez@denvergov.org