Refining latent fingerprint detection
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Authors
Venable, Kenneth
Issue Date
2001
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Forensic sciences
Alternative Title
Abstract
A gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) can be used to detect latent fingerprints. The United States Army has developed a probe that will allow chemical sampling outside a lab setting. The probe was developed to detect chemical agents, however, it has other applications for detecting chemical substance. What the GC/MS detects is the amino acid and salt residue (sweat) from fingerprints. Fingerprints have been detectable in a lab setting since the nineteen sixties. But, with the advent of the probe attachment for GC/MS, it will allow law enforcement to be deployed to a crime scene, with almost unlimited chemical detection capability. The additional equipment will fit into a small suitcase. This capability will provide detection of fingerprints in the most difficult and unlikely places. The idea is to provide a useful instrument to law enforcement that can enhance and expedite identification of latent fingerprints.