HomeHOWHow To Detect Fingerprints Of Criminal Wearing Gloves

How To Detect Fingerprints Of Criminal Wearing Gloves

Introduction

Impressions and marks are expected components of any crime scene. Numerous things can produce impressions. The most common and extensively studied types of impressions are those made by footwear. Many studies have investigated personal identification and sex and stature estimation via footwear impressions [1-3]. Other sources of impressions are tool marks, tyre marks, and fabric impressions. Glove impressions or prints are a type of fabric print [4].

People wear gloves for protection from extreme weather, diseases, contamination, and potentially hazardous chemicals. There is now a general awareness of handprints among many lawbreakers, and accordingly many try to avoid depositing them at crime scenes. Because of this, finding a complete handprint at the scene of a crime perpetrated by such an offender is unusual [5]. Notably however, Fisher and Fisher [6] reported that offenders tend to believe that gloves offer complete security, and thus they utilise gloved hands without restraint. Accordingly, complete glove impressions can sometimes be found in obvious and easily accessible places at crime scenes.

Gloved hands carry dirt, dust and other materials from elsewhere. They can also contain residues from typical crime scene components such as blood or other body fluids. In accordance with Locard’s Exchange Principle [7], gloved hands leave impressions or marks when they touch other surfaces. These are positive impressions. Negative impressions can also occur when a gloved hand removes dust, blood or other materials from a surface [4].

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Like fingerprints, glove impressions can be two-dimensional or three-dimensional depending on the nature of the surface they are left on. They can consist of patent marks and/or latent marks. Visible glove prints can be photographed and lifted using a black gelatin lifter. Latent impressions can be visualized with fingerprint powders [8].

Lambourne [9] described four types of glove marks that could be detected at crime scenes: leather, fine fabrics (such as cotton), coarse fabrics (such as wool), and rubber or latex. Latex is a natural rubber and a highly regular cis-1,4-polyisoprene produced by more than 400 different species of plants [10]. Criminals prefer latex gloves because they fit the hands tightly, facilitating a better grasp of objects [11, 12].

Glove marks obtained from a crime scene can provide information pertaining to the manufacturing features of the gloves worn during the crime. In addition, numerous features individualize each glove and make comparisons between prints and actual gloves procured as potential evidence possible. Such features include the material the glove was made from and how it was constructed, (i.e. by machine or handmade, stitched, knitted, moulded, or embossed). Acquired features such as holes, tears, or other imperfections also characterize each glove. Notably however, whether glove impressions can still have a role in crime scene investigations when there is no actual glove to use in comparisons remains to be thoroughly investigated.

Several reports indicate the usefulness of handprints for estimating stature and sex [13, 14]. In the real world, forensic experts are confronted with two challenges. The first is that most criminals use gloves to protect themselves from being identified via fingerprints left at the crime scene [11]. The second is related to the unfixed glove impression shape due to the high mobility of the hands [15]. Glove prints may be found on flat surfaces or on curved objects of different diameters. In this work, the author addresses these two difficulties.

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There is evidently very little research reported in the literature pertaining to gloved hand impressions. To date most research has been focused on the visualization of latent fingerprints on different types of gloves, the detection of DNA traces on gloves, or aspects of the glove material (composition) itself [16-19]. The aims of the present study were to investigate whether additional information such as the stature of a suspect could be gleaned from glove prints, and whether obtaining glove prints from different objects of different diameters may add to their value.

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