Fingerprint Cleanup - STERI-CLEAN® ARIZONA

We’ve all seen the tv shows where the cops go to a crime scene and start dusting for fingerprints in an effort to find the criminal. While this happens in real life, what you
never see on the show is the mess that fingerprinting leaves behind.

 

Why Dust for Fingerprints?

 

It is impossible to get some crime scene evidence back to a lab for analysis. You can’t just pick up a countertop and move it; that’s where dusting for fingerprints comes in. Law enforcement officials are able to get a better idea of a crime scene or a perpetrator and his actions by dusting. Most importantly, finding fingerprints can show that a specific person was at the crime scene.

 

When a person touches something, the slight friction between the fingers and the object or surface can leave behind a mark from the natural oils in the skin. Some parts of the skin don’t have these natural oils, making it more difficult to get a print. This is where dusting comes into play. Dusting can be used over large areas to help find a print that is clear enough to use. The most common type works by putting dust on the print, then blowing the dust away to leave an image of the print.

 

Fingerprint Dust Cleanup

 

There are different types of fingerprint dust and it’s generally up to the agency which one will be used. Specific types of dusting powder can work on different surfaces and the crime scene will often dictate what type should be used. For some in law enforcement, it just comes down to preference.

 

Most fingerprint dust is made up of a black graphite powder that requires a complex fingerprint dust cleanup treatment. STERI-CLEAN® ARIZONA has developed techniques and chemicals to properly remove and neutralize fingerprint dust and other substances an investigator might use (i.e. Luminol). Our fingerprint dust cleanup services leave the area free of graphite and looking as clean as before the crime took place.