Understanding Fingerprint Evidence, the Clearwater criminal defense lawyers

Fingerprints are one of the best forms of physical evidence that police and investigators can get from a crime scene. They can conclusively identify victims and offenders. In addition to identifying a person, they can tie the offender to the scene.

Databases which used to be maintained on a department by department basis are now nationalized. In addition, they have been computerized which allows for extremely quick searching on a national, state, or local level.

There are a number of methods of processing for fingerprints. There are two basic principles on which the entire concept rests:

• Friction ridge patterns don’t change. Friction ridge patterns are the swirled patterns in the tips of fingers. Everyone has them.
• 2. No two people have the same pattern of friction ridges. Just like, generally, no two people have the same DNA. This makes it exceptionally easy to identify a person, if their fingerprint is on file.

People’s fingerprints can be on file for a variety of reasons. They can be collected when an individual is arrested, for future reference. A person’s prints are often taken when they start a job in a certain occupational field. Also, parents are increasingly asking schools and local police departments to fingerprint their young children. This is because children who are abducted or are the victims of other heinous crimes often cannot be identified without these prints.

Fingerprints exist because of the tiny pores in the friction ridges. These pores release sweat which mixes with other body oils and dirt. When the oils, sweat, and dirt mix together, the fingers produce prints on smooth surfaces. To get to these prints, detectives use special powders and chemicals to make the prints appear.

The visibility of a set of prints depends on the surface from which they’re lifted. As the technology in every other field as improved, so has the technology for collecting fingerprints.

If you have been implicated in a crime due to the presence of your finger prints, please contact the Clearwater criminal defense lawyers of the Law Offices of Tragos & Sartes at 727-441-9030.