University of Leicester researchers, in league with Northamptonshire police, have developed a new way of taking fingerprints from a crime scene even after they have been removed.
The University’s Forensic Research Centre and Northamptonshire Police’s scientific support unit can now ‘visualise fingerprints’ after conducting a study on how fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces. This breakthrough means that - after firing - forensic investigators can see the fingerprint from a metal firearm before it was fired.
Dr John Bond, Honorary Fellow at the University of Leicester and Scientific Support Manager at Northamptonshire Police said: “For the first time we can get prints from people who handled a cartridge before it was fired.”
"Wiping it down, washing it in hot soapy water makes no difference - and the heat of the shot helps the process we use.
“The procedure works by applying an electric charge to a metal - say a gun or bullet - which has been coated in a fine conducting powder, similar to that used in photocopiers.
“Even if the fingerprint has been washed off, it leaves a slight corrosion on the metal and this attracts the powder when the charge is applied, so showing up a residual fingerprint.
“The technique works on everything from bullet casings to machine guns. Even if heat vaporises normal clues, police will be able to prove who handled a particular gun,” Dr Bond explained.
This research could see decades-old investigations potentially being reopened because the underlying print never disappears, say the scientists.
The initial findings of this study were published in the American Journal of Forensic Science.
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Date Published: June 02, 2008
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