AFIS systems could one day routinely include palmprints. Crime scene investigators know that latent palmprints are routinely encountered at crime scenes, but without reference palmprints from a suspect, the information has no immediate investigative potential.

Latent prints developed at a crime scene could routinely be digitally photographed and entered directly into AFIS from the crime scene via a palm-top computer and a cell phone. Imagine the possibility of instantly getting a suspect's name and address while the investigators are still processing the crime scene.
 

Possibility: DNA analysis to be conducted at the crime scene by using hand-held DNA analyzers. The data generated would then be sent to the databank using a palm-top computer and a cell phone. Hand-held DNA analyzers are already a reality; however, they have a long way to go before they will ever be found near a crime scene.