The Fingerprint Bureau runs a very successful laboratory where items seized or recovered from a crime scene can be chemically treated to develop any 'latent' marks that would otherwise remain very faint or not visible at all.

Most fingermarks left at crime scenes result from traces of sweat that are transferred from the friction ridge skin to the surface touched.

Sweat is made up of 98 to 99.5 per cent water, the remaining percentage being made up of a mixture of dissolved solids. These solids include urea, amino acids, salts, fats and oils.

The water in the sweat from a fingermark will evaporate fairly quickly leaving behind the solid constituents. It is these solid constituents that the chemical treatments react with. There are other contaminants such as blood and grease that also require special treatments. The method of treatment is also determined by the nature of the object or surface being treated.

 

Electronic Submission of Crime Scene Marks
Crime Scene Investigation bases are now equipped with flat bed scanners which means CSIs working in the field can scan the crime scene marks they have retrieved and send them electronically to the secure police network.

This means a mark can potentially be identified within minutes enabling an offender to be identified and arrested or stolen property to be recovered extremely quickly.

Electronic submission has greatly reduced the delay caused by CSIs having to physically drive into police headquarters in Wymondham and deliver evidence by hand.