Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Footprint Evidence and Its Importance. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 4 page paper discusses the importance of the preservation and collection of footprint evidence, as well as that of firearm evidence. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KV32_HVftprnt.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Footprints and footwear evidence are important because they can often be used to identify the perpetrator of a crime. However, Wagner notes that even as other parts of forensic science
developed, the importance of footwear was often overlooked. "In the 1940 edition of Modern Criminal Investigation by S?derman and OConnell, the chapter on footprints states, Footprints are generally not used
sufficiently by investigators of crime. Experience is needed ... [O]nce the eye has become accustomed to observe minute details a composite picture of interesting facts will stand out very clearly"
(Wagner, 2006, p. 144). The question is, why has it taken so long for forensics to understand the importance of footprints and footgear? Dwayne S. Hilderbrand, CLPE, of the Scottsdale
Police Crime Lab and author of the book Footwear, the Missed Evidence, suggests that footwear impression "are overlooked for two important reasons," the first being the "lack of training and
education in the proper searching collection and preservation" techniques for dealing with these types of evidence; and the second being the fact that such evidence is either not understood at
all, or undervalued (Hilderbrand). Other reasons for a lack of collecting this type of evidence include the misperception that no clear impressions can be found at a crime scene after
others, especially first responders, have walked there; incomplete or poorly conducted searchers of the scene; bad weather; or the fact that at times these impressions have been "intentionally destroyed" (Hilderbrand).
But footwear evidence is important because it "can lead to positive identifications of which particular known shoe made the print. Footwear evidence can provide investigators with certain information that can
assist them in locating a suspect" (Hilderbrand). When footgear evidence is property collected and preserved, it can tell investigators the make and type of shoe, a description and an approximate
...