◆ SpookStack

WORK AND FUNCTIONS OF THE DIVISION OF INVESTIGATION. The Division places notations in the files of its Identifica- . tion Unit upon request of peace officers, indicating that the arrest of an individual is desired as & fugitive. Through this procedure, after classifying and searching incoming cards, about 365 persons wanted for various types of offenses ranging from misdemeanor to murder or @S e8- caped prisoners or parole violators are identified each month. This. service is amplified and its value enhanced by the Division's action in publishing and distributing to contributors of fingerprints, monthly bulletins listing fugitives wanted throughout the country for major — crimes. This bulletin also contains articles of current interest to | law-enforcement officers, such as treatises on latent fingerprints, ciphers or similar subjects of @ scientific character in the field of criminology studied in the Division's research and criminological — laboratory. For the benefit of constituted authorities these finger- print records are also used on frequent occasions to identify unknown deceased persons as well as individuals, who, because of some malady, have forgotten their identity. Likewise, it proves of value in deter- mining if applicants for positions, under the Civil Service of the | Federal, state, county or municipal governments, have a previous rec- . ord on file which might show the applicant is not of a proper character to receive the appointment. : In maintaining its fingerprint files, the Division of Inves- tigation employs the Henry system with current extensions, which util- izes all 10 fingers considered as a unit for the classification and fil- ing of prints. In addition there is maintained a separate collection of fingerprints of kidnapers and extortionists, which are filed individually or singly. . This collection is an auxiliary to the main file and is used , primarily for the purpose of identifying latent fingerprints left at the _— scenes of crimes by kidnapers and extortionists. Unless latent finger- . prints of such offenders are those of the individuals whose separate im- pressions are filed in the single-print collection, it is difficult for the Division to identify the latent prints. However, if the names or aliases of any suspects are furnished the Division together with des- criptive information, then the actual prints may be compared with the latent impressions and thus it may be possible to establish an identifi- cation. ‘ Co ° In conducting its identifiobtion work, the Division of Investigation is essentially a cooperative organization and can fur- nish to contributing law-enforcement agencies only that information: which it receives from them. The assistance of the police, sheriffs, wardens, state identification bureaus, and similar agencies has been i -11