Saturday, March 15, 2008

Back to the Business of Being Dangerous





(Above: What crimes do you suppose he committed?)

Now that the contest is over (congrats, Jin Ai), it's time to get back to the bizarre and dangerous. Kad recently sent me a very handy list of tips for lifting fingerprints from everyday objects, and I thought we could all use a little primer. You never know when you'll find yourself at the scene of a crime!


Things You’ll Need:

Pencil
Knife
Coin
Feather or fine hair brush
Transparent tape
Large white index card or piece of paper

Step 1:
Look for objects that can potentially carry fingerprints. Fingerprints leave better impressions on smooth objects. These items hold the best prints: glass, painted surfaces, metal, linoleum, varnished woods and paper.

Step 2:
Grind some graphite power from a pencil. Using a knife, break the lead from a pencil into tiny pieces. Use a coin on a flat surface to grind the pieces into a fine powder.

Step 3:
Sprinkle the powder onto your object. Lay the object on a flat table and gently coat the surface of the object with a fine layer of graphite powder.

Step 4:
Reveal the fingerprint. Lightly dust the powder off the surface with a feather. The powder will stay attached to the oils from the suspect's skin, and a fingerprint should take shape. Be sure to dust very lightly, or you may dust away the fingerprint.

Step 5:
Transfer the fingerprint. Holding a small strip of transparent tape at both ends, place the tape over the fingerprint. Press it down for a moment, then carefully pull the tape up from one end. The fingerprint will transfer onto the tape.

Step 6:
Place the tape face down on an index card. Repeat the process for each finger you can find prints for on the object, and place them on the same card.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is so cool!! I've always wanted to know how to transfer a fingerprint!!!

Thumb Biter said...

Awesome! And you don't need any expensive fingerprinting powder.
I'll look around for some more cool tricks to send you.

Anonymous said...

That's awesome!!! I've always wanted to do that without a special kit or something! I'm trying it later for sure!
(I'm Mysterie, I just don't feel like signing in right now ;)

Spring said...

I learned this at this cool police thingy at the library. It's so cool isn't it!

Kitty said...

Hmmm... I heard taking fingerprints take many (as in like, 10-20 years) of practice.. Oh yeah, I found this awhile ago: http://www.fbi.
gov/hq/cjisd/
takingfps.html

It's how to identify fingerprints! ^^ (like to read this stuff XD) Taken from the FBI!!! (^-^)

Kitty said...

Happy Ides of March!!! ^-^

hania said...

I've always wanted to do this!
You can also lift fingerprints using eyeshadow/blush, but pencil lead is better. You can also use those little makeup brushes.

Thumb Biter said...

Oh, really? How would you do it with makeup - use the makeup brush on the fingerprints?
Of course, if you happen to be kidnapped and you don't have a pencil, you can always play the ditz and ask for your makeup back (Hazel's story!) in case you need to lift some prints... Thanks for the tip!

Kitty said...

OMG!!! Jin Ai, did you get the t-shirt yet??? How does it look??

FN da World Dictator said...

cool! put some more cool stuff!
*evil grin* i'll use it for wierd ppl sneaking in my bedroom at parties.