Consider the scene: You step into the kitchen to find the lid to the cookie jar off, crumbs peppered across the floor, milk pooling on the counter, and chocolate staining your white cabinets like a Jackson Pollock painting. Your questions are only answered by “I dunno.” and finger pointing. The Adventures in Lifelong Learning (ALL) course titled “Who was in the Cookie Jar?” is here to help you.
This course consists of five (5) 1.5-hour classes in which we will explore the history of fingerprint evidence, the methods used to recognize and collect prints from the crime scene, and how the laboratory classifies those prints. The limitations of fingerprint evidence will also be discussed. The course will include lecture and case histories relative to each topic. Attendees will also have the opportunity to classify fingerprints in anticipation of that next cookie jar caper.
Fingerprints have been recognized as unique biometric features to identify individuals since ancient Babylon (18th Century BCE). Through the centuries technological advancements, developments in chemistry and biology, and serendipitous discoveries have brought us to the current state of the art in fingerprint identification and comparison. Television programs and movies have portrayed, as with most forensic evidence, the discovery, collection, and analyses of fingerprints as a given in crime scene investigation. The process of recognizing prints in the scene can be very difficult in reality. Their discovery depends on the surfaces touched, environmental conditions, the make-up of the prints, their age, et cetera. Add to this the partial and smudged condition of most fingerprints, and the classification and identification of fingerprints can be even more challenging for the criminalist in the laboratory. This course will give the attendee an appreciation of the historical development of fingerprint evidence and the special qualifications required of fingerprint examiners.