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Prints Among Men

May 19, 2013

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Profile America -- Sunday, May 19th. The first criminal case in the U.S. in which fingerprint evidence was admitted into court occurred on this date in New York City in 1911. Burglary suspect Caesar Cella was convicted by prints identified by detective Sergeant Joseph Faurot. The first known crime case solved by fingerprint matching occurred in 1880 in Tokyo, but the unique pattern of each person's fingerprints had been known since ancient Rome. Today, the use of DNA samples from crime scenes is the fastest-growing area of forensic evidence. Advanced crime solving methods have contributed to a drop in total reported crimes -- from 14.5 million in 1990 to 10.6 million as of four years ago. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: www.on-this-day.com
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 306
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/law_enforcement_courts_prisons.html