The comic takes place in 1916, the year Horace Reynolds was hired by the EPS to collect and catalogue fingerprints.
The history lesson covers the three patterns of distinct fingerprints (ulnar, plain whorl and plain arch pattern), technologies used to find and lift prints, the card and rod system developed in the mid-60’s by the EPS to compare unknown prints with prints of known criminals, and the introduction of an automated computer database for fingerprints called AFIS.
A few minutes after AFIS was turned on for the first time, the EPS was able to identify fingerprints belonging to a kidnapper and rescued a young boy.
Copies of Legacy of Heroes: Behold the Proof are available at all EPS divisional stations and online. Past digital issues of Legacy of Heroes are available on the EPS website.
Legacy of Heroes was launched in 2014. The series is dedicated to sharing historic stories about the remarkable people and events of the Edmonton Police Service. There are more than 25,000 printed copies of the three editions of the comic. The electronic version has been read by people all over the world, as far away as Hong Kong and Australia.
To learn more about the Edmonton Police Service's Forensic Identification Section, please watch our This is Who I Amvideo: