ABSTRACT
At a crime scene, it is vital to search for latent prints. Investigators must take the fingerprints of any victims-surviving or dead-in order to eliminate them from the investigation. At any crime scene, investigators will almost certainly find “unknown” prints. They may be from innocent people who were at the scene before the crime was committed, or who arrived at the scene and contacted the police. It is also possible for the first officers at the scene, or the
paramedic crew (if they are called to remove an injured or dead person), to leave their prints accidentally. When investigators have taken fingerprints from all these people, the remaining “unknown” prints may lead them to the criminal.
