In May 2004, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showed up at Brandon Ma
In May 2004, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showed up at Brandon Mayfield's law office and arrested him in connection with the March 2004 bombing of a train station in Madrid(马德里), Spain. The Oregon lawyer was a suspect (嫌犯)because several experts had matched one of his fingerprints to a print found near the scene of the terrorist attack.
But Mayfield was innocent (清白的). When the truth was found 2 weeks later, he was set free from jail. Still, Mayfield had suffered unnecessarily(受罪), and he's not alone.
Police officers often use fingerprints successfully to catch criminals. However, according to a recent study by criminologist(犯罪学家) Simon Cole of the University of California, Irvine, authorities may make as many as 1,000 incorrect fingerprint matches each year in the United States.
"The cost of a wrong decision is very high," says Anil K. Jain, a computer scientist at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Jain is one of a number of researchers around the world who are trying to develop improved computer systems for making accurate fingerprint matches. These scientists sometimes even engage in competitions in which they test their fingerprint-verification (核实) software to see which way works best.
The work is important because fingerprints have a role not just in crime solving but also in everyday life. A fingerprint scan may someday be your ticket to getting into a building, logging on to a computer, withdrawing money from an ATM, or getting your lunch at school.
The title of this article most probably is ______.
A.Fingerprint Evidence
B.Fingerprint and Computer
C.The Mistakes of Fingerprinting
D.Fingerprint Matching