Fingerprint and Crime Scene
Running Head: Unit 9 Final Essay Exam
Unit 9 Final Essay Exam
Rhonda Forbes
Kaplan University
CJ328-01 Forensic Fingerprint Analysis
Professor Jean V. Gardner, MS, CSCSA
May 24, 2011
One of the most important purposes of physical evidence is to establish the identity of a suspect or victim. Some of the most valuable clues at a crime scene are fingerprints. "Processing a crime scene" is a long, tedious process that involves focused documentation of the conditions at the scene and the collection of any physical evidence that could possibly shed light on what happened and point to who did it.
Before the collection process, the items must be marked, photographed and documented. There are many different types of techniques used for obtaining fingerprints from a crime scene. When processing fingerprints the location and condition of the fingerprint is the key to what type of technique would be used. There are two types of surfaces, non porous and porous. Porous evidence is evidence that fingerprint residue can soak into like paper, cardboard or unfinished wood. The chemical techniques are Silver Nitrate, Iodine fuming, Ninhydrin and SuperGlue Fuming. All these procedures must be done with precautions and proper containment, like a fuming tank. Non porous evidence is plastic, glass, metal, and foil. These prints are usually lifted with the Powder Dusting technique. The powder is applied to the surface and lifted with lifting tape. You must allow wet prints to dry before dusting. And never apply powders to greasy, bloody or dusty evidence. You don’t want to cross contaminate any evidence so it would be wise to wait until the documentation and collection of evidence is complete before the processing of latent prints. (Lee, & Gaesslen, 2001)
The evidence that should be collected from this particular scene is the following: 1. Lottery Ticket on counter with a bloody smeared print on it 2. Black 9mm semi-automatic gun under ice cream
Unit 9 Final Essay Exam
Rhonda Forbes
Kaplan University
CJ328-01 Forensic Fingerprint Analysis
Professor Jean V. Gardner, MS, CSCSA
May 24, 2011
One of the most important purposes of physical evidence is to establish the identity of a suspect or victim. Some of the most valuable clues at a crime scene are fingerprints. "Processing a crime scene" is a long, tedious process that involves focused documentation of the conditions at the scene and the collection of any physical evidence that could possibly shed light on what happened and point to who did it.
Before the collection process, the items must be marked, photographed and documented. There are many different types of techniques used for obtaining fingerprints from a crime scene. When processing fingerprints the location and condition of the fingerprint is the key to what type of technique would be used. There are two types of surfaces, non porous and porous. Porous evidence is evidence that fingerprint residue can soak into like paper, cardboard or unfinished wood. The chemical techniques are Silver Nitrate, Iodine fuming, Ninhydrin and SuperGlue Fuming. All these procedures must be done with precautions and proper containment, like a fuming tank. Non porous evidence is plastic, glass, metal, and foil. These prints are usually lifted with the Powder Dusting technique. The powder is applied to the surface and lifted with lifting tape. You must allow wet prints to dry before dusting. And never apply powders to greasy, bloody or dusty evidence. You don’t want to cross contaminate any evidence so it would be wise to wait until the documentation and collection of evidence is complete before the processing of latent prints. (Lee, & Gaesslen, 2001)
The evidence that should be collected from this particular scene is the following: 1. Lottery Ticket on counter with a bloody smeared print on it 2. Black 9mm semi-automatic gun under ice cream
References: Successful interviewing, (2011). Retrieved from http://www.crimeandclues.com/index.php/physical-evidence/fingerprint-evidence. Lee, H. C. & Gaensslen, R. E. (2001). Advances in fingerprint technology, Boca Raton: CRC Press