by Daryl W. Clemens
Plastic Tape
Obtaining fingerprints for identification is a long established law enforcement practice. When the practice started, is was most common to use printers ink applied to the fingers which were then pressed onto paper cards. Later specialized inks were employed to improve the quality of the prints obtained. While ink is still used today, many agencies are now using computer “live-scan” methods to record reference prints. Continue reading
by Captain Curtis C. Frame,
Criminal Investigation Division
Jasper County Sheriff’s Office
Jasper, Texas
Article Copyright © 2000, Curtis C. Frame
A Latent print found in dust, may be the only clue to a case in which there are no other leads. And because the areas that are routinely touched by the victims are not normally dusty, the dust print we find may be the only link we have of the perpetrator to the crime scene. However, most crime scene and latent print examiner experts will say that, regardless of their importance, latent prints in dust are a nightmare. This is due to the fact that a latent print in dust was actually left there due to the dust being removed by adhering to the ridges of the skin that touched it. Continue reading
By Daryl W. Clemens
Burglary defined
Burglary is sometimes also known as Home Invasion, or Breaking and Entering. The unlawful entry into the premises of another with intent to commit a felony (usually larceny) therein.
Introduction
Burglaries represent one of the more common crimes to which patrol officers respond. Someone has returned home from an evening out and found the doors open and their property missing. The police are called, and an investigation is begun. Continue reading
By Pat A. Wertheim
This article originally appeared in “Minutiae”, The Lightning Powder Co. Newsletter, No. 42, May-June 1997, p. 6.
Although old-fashioned black powder is the workhorse of fingerprint development
techniques for crime scene use and is also an important method in the laboratory,
maximizing the effectiveness of powder requires far more sophistication than
simply dipping a brush into the jar of powder and painting it onto a surface.
More control can be exercised over black powder by working out of a shallow
dish. The perfect disposable dish can be made by cutting or tearing a blank
inked fingerprint card from any edge into the center of the card. Overlap
the two edges of the cut by about an inch (two or three centimeters) and
tape the card back together to make the dish. A large laboratory weighing
dish may be used, or any other shallow dish or bowl. Place one-half to one
teaspoon of powder (approximately one millilitre) into the dish. Continue reading
Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, this book is sure to appeal to people in the fingerprint profession, and to those who love history. The book centers around “The Shocking Tragedy at Deptford”, the murder case which became the first in the United Kingdom which was solved through the use of fingerprint evidence. (There were earlier cases in other countries, and an account of one from Argentina is also included in the text).
By Ivan Ross Futrell
Mr. Futrell is a supervisory fingerprint specialist in the Latent Fingerprint
Section of the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
This Article Originally Appeared in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, April 1996.
(Recent research proves that identifiable prints can be obtained from the
skin of homicide victims under real field conditions, not just in the
laboratory.)
Whether to stop them from fleeing, immobilize them, or dispose of them, murderers
often grab their victims. What homicide detective has not wished for the
ability to develop identifiable fingerprints of a suspect from the skin of
a dead body? Crucial fingerprint evidence linking the perpetrator to the
victim must be right there, but, until recently, attempts to retrieve those
prints rarely met with success. Continue reading
This article originally appeared in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, December 1992.
In March 1990, an unknown assailant sexually molested and fatally stabbed a young woman. At the crime scene, an investigator discovered few leads. The only evidence was a pillowcase, found adjacent to the victim’s body, that exhibited several bloodstains. One stain showed some faint fingerprint ridge detail, barely visible even to the trained eye. Continue reading