Investigations on stainless steel knives using fingermark development processes including Recover Latent Fingerprint...

Area of Science:

• Forensic Science
• Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Disulfur dinitride (S2N2) is known for developing latent fingerprints on various metal surfaces.
• Recover Latent Fingerprint Technology (LFT) is a commercialized system based on the S2N2 process.
• Stainless steel kitchen knives are common items in major crime investigations in the UK, but LFT's performance on them is unevaluated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of Recover Latent Fingerprint Technology (LFT) on stainless steel kitchen knives.
• To compare LFT's effectiveness with other established fingermark visualization techniques.
• To determine LFT's optimal placement within a sequence of forensic processing methods.

Main Methods:

• Planted fingermark experiments were conducted on stainless steel kitchen knife blades.
• Recover LFT was applied and its results compared to other methods.
• Other methods included Superglue Fuming (with/without Basic Yellow 40), Carbon-based Powder Suspension, Basic Violet 3, and Acid Violet 17.

Main Results:

• Recover Latent Fingerprint Technology (LFT) demonstrated promising results for visualizing latent fingerprints on stainless steel kitchen knife blades.
• The study provided initial data on LFT's performance relative to and sequentially after other common fingermark visualization techniques.

Conclusions:

• Recover LFT is a potentially valuable tool for latent fingerprint development on stainless steel kitchen knives.
• Further research is needed to fully assess LFT's benefits, optimize its use in sequential processing, and understand its underlying chemistry.