Hello Please, Help Imagine the following: You are a Crime Scene Investigator tas

Question

Hello Please, Help

Imagine the following: You are a Crime Scene Investigator tasked with processing the scene of a residential burglary. From what surfaces would you expect to recover latent fingerprints?

The point of entry is located at the rear of the house. To access the rear of the house, the suspect unlocked a wooden gate. The gate was secured by a rusty metal latch. Once in the backyard, the suspect grabbed a rock, walked up a set of wooden stairs to a deck. The suspect then threw the rock through the sliding glass door. The rock is found on the floor inside the home. The sliding glass door is shattered. The door frame is intact and the "Charlie Bar" is still in place. After gaining access to the interior of the home, the suspect opened wooden kitchen cabinets and took out a bottle of alcohol. The bottle is on the kitchen table. It appeared that the suspect also opened several closet doors. A cloth purse inside one of the closets is observed on the floor of the closet. A leather wallet from inside the purse is found on the stairwell going up to the bedrooms. Credit cards are strewn across the floor of the master bedroom. Wooden, plastic, and cardboard jewelry boxes are found open on the bed. A pillowcase was taken from one of the pillows. It appears as if the suspect left through the front door. The front doorknob is brass.

Be as specific as possible. Start at the point of entry and walk through the home, naming possible surfaces as you go.   

This being a class on fingerprints, there is no need to mention other forms of evidence that you might collect.

Explanation / Answer

Answer:

Surfaces to collect latent fingerprint:

Latent fingerprints are formed as a result of the deposition of body's natural sweat and oil on another surface. This leaves a pattern that mirrors the trough and ridges on the fingerprints. Latent fingerprints are not easily visible and one need to use fingerprint powders, chemical reagents etc for their detection.

If the surface is less porous and smooth, the chances of getting and developing a latent print are high.

To narrow the search we will focus at the point of entry, point of exit that were used by the suspect as well as the items that may have been disturbed by the suspect during the crime.

Possible surfaces from where latent finger print can be collected in order of entry and exit are:

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