Fingerprint Collection And Preservation Paper

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Fingerprint Collection and Preservation Fingerprints are one of the best identifying factors when it comes to recognizing who someone is. But did you know that you could also lose your prints for a short period of time? No worries, they do regenerate themselves if not permanently damaged (Horowitz, 2016). However, in relation to criminal activity, prints can illustrate what might have happened at a crime scene. First before fingerprints can be collected or analyzed they must be located. At a crime scene fingerprints can be found in various places from door knobs to in blood found on the floor. There are three different types of fingerprints that can be discovered; patent, plastic, and latent prints. Patent prints are visible to the naked …show more content…

Lifting of a fingerprint consist of applying a piece of adhesive tape over the print and using something with a blunt end, like a ruler, to pass over the print to better adhere the print to the tape. Then the tape is carefully peeled up off the object and placed on a clear backing to ensure the integrity of the print (Sheridan, 2013). By placing the print onto a clear backing helps to preserve the print as well. These collected and preserved prints must then be properly placed into evidence containers to later be analyzed at a crime lab. The grand purpose of following the necessary steps in locating, collecting, and preserving prints is to, at best, guarantee the accuracy of not only fingerprints but other evidence as well. This information will aid greatly in gaining an understanding of what took place at a crime scene. For instance, if investigators were directed to a scene of reports of criminal activity at a gun store and discovered that a glass window had been broken and one specific case inside this building had been shattered, they can infer that something had been stolen. By collecting, preserving and analyzing prints that were found at this scene, investigators can conclude that the store had been robbed and by analyzing the prints found they can determine who the culprit was by comparing their fingerprints to the prints located in the AFIS

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