Sunday Lecture Series: Fingerprints – a unique identification method

Matching fingerprints from a crime scene to an offender or using fingerprints to identify deceased persons such as disaster victims is a small part of Sergeant Tony Martinez’s role at the Queensland Fingerprint Bureau.

Sergeant Martinez is stationed at the Queensland Police Service Fingerprint Bureau and is the guest speaker for the Police Museum Sunday Lecture on 26 June.

Sergeant Martinez has attended serious crime scenes, conducted countless laboratory examinations for fingerprint evidence, and is actively involved in continually identifying offenders by analysing and identifying latent fingerprints collected from crime scenes. Sergeant Tony Martinez is a qualified Fingerprint Expert, a qualification that is awarded by the Australasian Forensic Science Assessment Body and is recognised worldwide.

During his presentation, Sergeant Martinez will outline that fingerprint identification has been around for 120 years and is a cornerstone to the forensic discipline. The use of fingerprint identification helps identify offenders and place them at crime scenes, identifies disaster victims, and is a valuable biometric tool in busy airports all over the World.

Sergeant Martinez will also discuss the recent advances in fingerprint identification technology and image transmission, which provides Queensland police officers with valuable information to help solve crimes. These advances, along with comparisons to past techniques will be discussed and examples will be given.

The one-and-a-half hour presentation will begin at 11am on Sunday, 26 May and will provide educational and up-to-date content suitable for all audiences.

The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.

PLEASE NOTE: The Police Museum will open Sunday 26 May from 10am to 3pm and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Host or Publisher Queensland Police Museum