Posted on 07/22/2008 12:38:53 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Wiping the gun clean has long been considered best practice for villains but may soon become a quaint custom that will ultimately prove fruitless. Researchers have developed a method to ‘visualize fingerprints’ even after the print itself has been removed by measuring the corrosion of the surface by deposits from the fingerprints. The technique can enhance – after firing– a fingerprint that has been deposited on a small caliber metal cartridge case before it is fired. The technique promises the ability to reopen many cases and solve cold cases around the world because the “underlying print never disappears” according to the scientists.
Wiping the gun clean has long been considered best practice for villains but may soon become a quaint custom as researchers have developed a way to ‘visualise fingerprints’ even after the print itself has been removed by measuring the corrosion of the surface by deposits from the fingerprints. The technique can enhance – after firing– a fingerprint that has been deposited on a small calibre metal cartridge case before it is fired. The technique promises the ability to reopen many cases and solve cold cases around the world because the “underlying print never disappears” according to the scientists.
The Forensic Research Centre at the University of Leicester (UK) develops new ways of taking evidence from a crime scene. Already world-leading in such areas as using X-Rays or electrically charging metal surfaces for fingerprint enhancement , they have now developed an entirely new way of detecting fingerprints – great fodder for Crime Scene Investigation fans … and one that could realistically result in thousands of cold cases being reopened around the world.
Forensic scientists at the University of Leicester, working with Northamptonshire Police, have announced a major breakthrough in crime detection which could lead to hundreds of cold cases being reopened.
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’s initial findings, which prompted the joint study, have been announced in a paper in the American Journal of Forensic Science.
Professor Rob Hillman of the Department of Chemistry added: “It is very satisfying to see excellent fundamental science being applied to a practical problem. We are delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Bond and his colleagues and we look forward to some very exciting chemistry and its application to forensic science.”
As a result of the research, cases dating back decades could be reopened because the underlying print never disappears, say the scientists. The technique also works in cases where prints may be left on other metals.
Dr Bond added: "It's certainly possible hundreds of cold cases could be reopened because with this method the only way to avoid a fingerprint being detected is through abrasive cleaning as that takes a layer off the metal.
Dr Emma Palmer, Director of the Forensic Research Centre said: “This collaboration between the University of Leicester and Northamptonshire Police is an excellent example of applying research to a practical problem in crime detection.”
Dr Bond and Professor Rob Hillman of the Chemistry Department at the University now intend to take this research forward via a three-year Ph.D. studentship to commence next academic year. The new project will explore further the corrosion of metal by fingerprint residue and investigate how it might be used to detect more crime with forensic science.
Ever heard of cotton gloves? What if a gun has been owened by several people before.
I bet the quality control manager at the Remington factory gets a LOT of calls from police soon...
They’ve never heard of the polymer-framed Glock?
researchers have developed a way to ‘visualise fingerprints’ even after the print itself has been removed by measuring the corrosion of the surface by deposits from the fingerprints
***Then the bad guys will just use corrosive solvents to clean the gun.
I always wear rubber gloves before and while shooting at people. LOL
Exactly. A little benzene should go a long way.
Thankfully, our legal system still must entertain corroborating evidence. Otherwise, you’re correct, some people would be in a world of suck.
Batman can get fingerprints off a shattered round by virtually reconstructing it.
With the help of Morgan Freeman, of course.
Thanks for the tip. A crook should put on gloves when opening a new box of ammo and loading his piece. Same deal with the gun, never handle it without gloves or without putting some plastic tape on the parts usually touched. When getting rid of your gat, bath it in muriatic acid before tossing it.
If gun haters would spend 1/500,000th of the time on criminals they do on guns/gun owners, we would have a crime free nation.
If you don't trust solvent then simply polish the ammo with metal cleaner, that will do it. The best bet however is to use gloves with a new box of ammo and let the inspector at the plant that made the ammo take the hit.
All true, but I imagine there are circumstances where a criminal doesn’t have time to do all these things.
A criminal always has time to do these things. They are criminals and they plan their crimes. Even in a crime of passion there are ways to eliminate the fingerprints in a short time if you have failed to do so beforehand. This method, along with the stupidity of stamping shell casings, is not going to result in many criminals nabbed for crimes but will put a lot of innocent people who happened to touch the casings or the gun in the past of cleaning is not carried out on the weapon or ammo. Fingerprinting was valuable when it first came out but has lost a lot of its potency by the simple fact of people wearing gloves. There is always a way around everything.
Acetylene and oxygen does a pretty good job.
So does 8,000 feet of salt water.
I call BS!
Re-openning cold cases? I doubt it. Maybe a high-profile case or 2 with some historical significance. Might help a convict get a new trial. But as to a systematic tool for law enforcement — it proves nothing. The guy that loaded the magazine is not necessarily the guy that fired it. It doesn’t take a Johnny Cochran to beat that evidence.
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