NCJ Number
161914
Journal
Journal of Forensic Identification Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: (January/February 1996) Pages: 32-45
Date Published
1996
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Vacuum Metal Deposition (VMD) is often considered a supplemental technique to enhance marginal latent prints partially developed by cyanoacrylate fuming, especially of prints of recent vintage; this study examined the sensitivity and effectiveness of cyanoacrylate ester (CAE) fuming followed by vacuum metal (zinc) coating of smooth surfaces bearing latent prints up to 24 months old.
Abstract
Prints were collected on glass slides from a variety of people selected at random and stored at moderate temperatures for various lengths of time. The slides were treated by CAE fuming alone, VMD alone, and by fuming and VMD in sequence. The effectiveness of these techniques on prints of various ages from different individuals was estimated by direct optical examination of the results. The effects of re-humidifying the latent residues and black powder dusting were also explored. The latent residues and the developed prints were examined by scanning electron microscope to attempt characterization of the types of residues responsible for triggering VMD and CAE visualization. VMD using gold and zinc showed excellent sensitivity to latent prints on glass surfaces. It was more sensitive to older prints (24 months old) than CAE fuming alone. It was of similar sensitivity on fresh prints (2 months old) to CAE fuming. CAE fuming followed by VMD yielded more identifiable detail than either technique alone, but there is a significant risk of losing detail already developed. 7 figures, 4 tables, and 4 references