Date of Award
Spring 5-2016
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Criminal Justice
First Advisor
Dean Bertram
Advisor Department
Criminal Justice
Abstract
It is well known within the latent fingerprint discipline that collection of bloody impressions can be difficult and destructive. This pilot study aims to validate the use of Zar-Pro Fluorescent Blood Lifting Strips© in the collection of bloody fingerprint impressions, and then compare the technique outcomes that of the currently used method – photography. This study used both collection methods to extract bloody impressions from white copy paper and aluminum metal. The impressions were aged over a two-week period prior to collection. A numerical score – representative of the identifiable minutiae points – was then obtained using the Smart Extract feature within the AFIX Tracker system for each impression. Statistical analyses determined that photographed impressions contained more discernible minutiae points; however, those same photographed impressions also had a great deal more background interference than the Zar-Pro lifted impressions. Thus, the study concludes that bloody impressions collected with Zar-Pro technology produces more accurate results than photography produces –despite the large difference in scores.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
DePew, Carter L., "A Validation Study of Zar-Pro Fluorescent Blood Lifting Strips" (2016). Honors Theses. 416.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/416