a thesis and an outline on The Examination of Forensic Firearms: the Crime Scene Through Microscopic Imperfections

a thesis and an outline on The Examination of Forensic Firearms: the Crime Scene Through Microscopic Imperfections. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required. To avoid eyewitness identification and leaving fingerprints, criminals frequently wear masks over their faces and gloves over their hands respectively. However, they make little effort to cover up footwear. Footwear evidence, therefore, when the investigator of a crime scene properly collects and preserves it and a footwear expert examines it in detail, becomes an important source of evidence during a criminal investigation that proves or disproves an individual’s presence at the scene of a crime. Unfortunately, disorganization or failure to secure the scene of crime properly may result in the destruction or overlooking of this form of impression evidence. Investigators use footwear evidence to obtain valuable information that can enable them to locate a suspect. For example, it can lead to positive recognition of the particularly known shoe that made the print (Hilderbrand, 2009). Footwear evidence is very useful in cases where proof of the presence of an individual is incriminating such as rapes, robberies, homicides, burglaries, assaults among others. Footwear evidence is of great value as it can provide the make or the unique characteristics of a shoe, its type or brand by comparing it with a database as well as its estimated size. It can also help in proving or disproving an alibi, crime scene reconstruction, the identification and elimination of a suspect, determining the number of perpetrators, their gait characteristics and their path into and away from the scene of the crime. Other uses include determining the events that took place during the crime and their sequence, the period when they made the impression among others.