Authors
Malvika Mehta
Abstract
Fingerprint are considered as the versatile and easily encountered type of evidence on the field of forensic investigation. Fingerprint investigation can help to link the offender to the crime because of the basic characteristic of fingerprints which includes uniqueness, permanency and consistency. The fingerprints can be encountered in different number of cases such as burglary, murder, accidents, sexual assault and robbery. The present paper basically involves the role of fingerprint found in the cases related to outdoor robbery crime scene. The current work focus on the aim to estimate whether fingermarks or fingerprints serve as one of the important and significant techniques used for the purpose to investigate outdoor robbery scenes. The role of fingerprint on outdoor robbery cases provide ample information and help the investigator to provide a linkage and connection with the suspect, victim and scene of crime. Keywords: Fingerprint, Robbery, Uniqueness, Permanency, Investigator
Introduction
The present study aims to evaluate whether fingermarks serve as one of the important techniques used to investigate outdoor robbery scenes. “Robbery is defined as the illegal taking of something of value from the control, custody, or person of another by threatening, putting in fear, or using force.” (Swanson, 2000, p-365). Fingerprint investigation can help to link the offender to the crime. There are two types of robbery- Personal and Business (Flatley. J, 2017, p-2). Planned robberies follow strategies to mitigate the possibilities of being caught. Unplanned robberies often leave behind finger marks as they are not prepared to attempt the crime. This report aims to study the role of fingerprints with several case studies in the investigation of outdoor robbery scenes.
Fingerprints are most commonly retrieved at robbery scenes (Coupe and Griffiths, 1996) and is of great importance in criminal cases. In another research it has been seen that fingerprints are found up to 71% of the times in such cases (Bradbury. S, 2005). It can be used to rule out the presence of individuals and narrow the search to link individuals to the robbery. Fingerprints are lifted, processed for preliminary screening, laboratory processing and identification using the fingerprint database (Galton. F, 1892). Large archive of millions of fingerprints is maintained for example: IDENT1 can be used to compare fingerprints. It is the National database of fingerprints in the UK.
References
Bleay, S., Sears, V., Downham, V., Bandey, H., Gibson, A., Bowman, V., Fitzgerald, L., Ciuksza, T., Ramadan, J., Selway, C., 2017. Fingerprint Source Book. 2nd ed. UK: CAST.
Bradbury. S, Feist. A, (2005), The use of forensic science in volume crime investigations: a review of the research literature, Home office ONLINE report 43/50.
Coupe, T. and Griffiths, M. (1996) Solving Residential Burglary. RDS Crime Detection and Prevention Series Paper 77. London: Home Office.
European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), 2015. Best Practice Manual for Fingerprint Examination. 1st ed. Europe: ENFSI.
Faulds, H., 2015. Dactylography or The Study of Fingerprints. Online ed: Chris Curnow, Thiers Halliwell.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives; U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2004.
Flatley, J, 2017. Overview of robbery and theft from the person: England and Wales. Office for National Statistics, [Online]., 1-14.
Forensic Magazine. 2010. Bacon Burglar Identified Through Forensics. [ONLINE], Accessed 27 October 2018.
Forensic Magazine. 2012. Fingerprints from Demand Note ID Bank Robber. [ONLINE], Accessed 27 October 2018.
Galton, F., 1892. Fingerprints. 1st ed. London: Macmillan and Co.
Garette, B, Mitchell, G, 2013. How Jurors Evaluate Fingerprint Evidence: The Relative Importance of Match Language, Method Information, and Error Acknowledgment. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, [Online]. Volume 10, Issue 3, 484-511.
Greenwood, P, Petersilia, J, 1975. The criminal investigation process volume 1: Sum. Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Vol 1, p-1-48.
Henry. L, Gaensslen. R. 2013, Advancements in Fingerprint Technology. 2nd ed. The United States:CRC Press
International Association for Identification, et al., 2011, Fingerprint source book, National Institute of Justice, US, NIJ
Joint EA-ENFSI working group, 2015, Guidance for Implementation of ISO/IEC 17020 in the field of Crime Scene Investigation, European Co-operation for Accreditation, p-1-22.
Kanbar, A, 2016. Fingerprint Identification for Forensic Crime Scene Investigation. International Journal of Computer Science and Mobile Computing, Vol. 5, Issue. 8, 60-65.
Keegan, H, 2017. Fingerprint helps Springfield police solve year-old robbery, documents say. Springfield news leader, 30 November 2017.
Kiely, T., 2015. Forensic Evidence: Science and The Criminal Law. US: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, CRC Press.
Lidong Wang, and Cheryl Ann Alexander, “Fingerprint Patterns and the Analysis of Gender Differences in the Patterns Based on the U Test.” International Transaction of Electrical and Computer Engineers System, vol. 2, no. 3 (2014): 88-92.
McRoberts (ed), A., 2012. The fingerprint sourcebook. US: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs.
National Association of Testing Authorities, 2013, ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Inspection Standard Application Document, Australia, NATA, p-1-31
NFSTC, 2013. Crime Scene Investigation-A Guide for Law Enforcement. US: National Forensic Science Technology Center.
Swanson. S, Chamelin. N, Territo. L, 2000, Criminal Investigation.7th ed. The United States:MC-Graw Hill
Tully, Dr G, 2017. Codes of Practice and Conduct. Forensic Science Regulator, Issue 4, 1-67.
How to cite this article?
| APA Style | Mehta, M. (2019). The Role and Utility of Fingerprints in the Investigation of Outdoor Robbery Scenes. Academic Journal of Forensic Sciences, 02(01), 23-35. |
| Chicago Style | |
| MLA Style | |
| DOI | |
| URL |