OK. I think you've answered my big question. In 1975, there was no way to submit a set of prints and get a name back in a timely manner. Prints were important, but you could not count on prints alone to give you a suspect's name.
As an example, if I was printed for going to work in a bank in 1975, a stray set of prints showing up later would not have been immediately linked to my name. On the other hand, if I had been fingerprinted previously, and I had been already linked to a crime by some other means (say an eyewitness) my prints could be retrieved and compared to a set found at the scene.
Cool. I can deal with that. I just needed to be accurate.
Many thanks, sir.
