UK National Fingerprint Collaborative Exercise 2022-23

In 2022-2023 the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) designed and conducted a two-part fingerprint Collaborative Exercise (CE). The CE focussed on fingermarks contaminated in blood as they provide a complex scenario for forensic units and it involved both fingermark visualisation and comparison elements. Participants were requested to treat the exercise as a major crime submission following internal protocols and were invited to provide comments relating to how the marks were deposited (if appropriate). Overall, forensic units performed well within both parts of the exercise. The exercise highlighted the importance of conducting sequential fingermark visualisation techniques, utilising additional lighting techniques and maintaining detailed notes throughout the fingerprint examination process. The outputs from the CE provided opportunities for forensic units to learn from one another, raise the level of understanding of blood contaminated fingermarks and identify areas of improvement which can be incorporated into internal processes.