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The first criminal case in the U.S. in which fingerprint evidence was admitted into court occurred 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 big drop in reported crimes — from nearly 40 million in 1995 to just over 23 million 10 years later.

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