Crime Scene Flashcards

1. What are the three types of fingerprints?

  • Patent, Plastic, and Latent

2. What is a patent fingerprint?

  • A visible print due to substances like blood, ink, or dirt.

3. What is a plastic fingerprint?

  • An impression left in soft surfaces like wax, putty, or soap.

4. What is a latent fingerprint?

  • An invisible print requiring enhancement techniques.

5. What is the composition of fingerprints?

  • 98% water, 2% grease, oil, salts, and amino acids.

6. What are the three main fingerprint patterns?

  • Loops, Whorls, and Arches.

7. What percentage of fingerprints are loops?

  • 70%

8. What percentage of fingerprints are whorls?

  • 25%

9. What percentage of fingerprints are arches?

  • 5%

10. What are the two types of loops?

  • Ulnar (opens toward pinky) and Radial (opens toward thumb).

11. What are the four types of whorls?

  • Plain, Central Pocket, Double Loop, and Accidental.

12. What are the two types of arches?

  • Plain and Tented.

13. What is ridge counting?

  • Counting the number of ridges between the core and the delta.

14. Name a technique for locating latent prints.

  • Oblique lighting.

15. When should powder be used for fingerprint development?

  • On hard, non-absorbent surfaces.

16. What are the three types of fingerprint powders?

  • Regular, Magnetic, and Fluorescent.

17. What color powder should be used on dark surfaces?

  • Grey, white, or silver.

18. What is the purpose of magnetic powder?

  • Effective on rough, porous surfaces.

19. What type of powder fluoresces under UV light?

  • Fluorescent powder.

20. What chemical reacts with amino acids in sweat?

  • Ninhydrin.

21. What color does ninhydrin turn fingerprints?

  • Purple (Ruhemann’s Purple).

22. What is a physical developer used for?

  • Developing prints on wet porous surfaces.

23. What chemical is used in superglue fuming?

  • Cyanoacrylate.

24. What does superglue fuming do?

  • Creates a white polymer on fingerprints.

25. What does amido black detect?

  • Blood proteins.

26. What color does amido black stain?

  • Blue-black.

27. What does leucocrystal violet react with?

  • Blood hemoglobin.

28. What database stores fingerprint records?

  • IAFIS.

29. What are the five steps of crime scene processing?

  • Secure, Survey, Document, Collect, Release.

30. What is physical evidence?

  • Any object linking a crime to a suspect or victim.

31. What does Locard’s Principle state?

  • Every contact leaves a trace.

32. What is chain of custody?

  • A documented trail of evidence handling.

33. What is the 4th Amendment?

  • Protection against unlawful searches and seizures.

34. What case established the exclusionary rule?

  • Weeks v. United States.

35. What is primary evidence?

  • Evidence that directly proves a fact.

36. What is secondary evidence?

  • Evidence derived from primary evidence.

37. What is the Brady Rule?

  • Prosecution must disclose exculpatory evidence.

38. What case changed how courts handle hearsay?

  • Crawford v. Washington.

39. What is exculpatory evidence?

  • Evidence that supports the innocence of a defendant.

40. What is impeachment evidence?

  • Evidence challenging a witness’s credibility.

41. What PPE should be worn at crime scenes?

  • Gloves, masks, goggles, coveralls.

42. Name a search pattern used at crime scenes.

  • Grid method.

43. What is the strip search method?

  • Searching in parallel lines.

44. What is the spiral search method used for?

  • Small or confined crime scenes.

45. What is used to detect gunshot residue?

  • Swab or disc lift techniques.

46. How soon should GSR be collected?

  • Within 4 hours.

47. What is a cartridge made of?

  • Bullet, gunpowder, primer, and casing.

48. What is rifling?

  • Spiral grooves in a gun barrel to improve accuracy.

49. What is an exemplar?

  • A known sample for handwriting comparison.

50. What is an altered document?

  • A document with changed portions.

51. How should wet evidence be packaged?

  • Air-dried first, then placed in paper bags.

52. What should not be used for biological evidence?

  • Plastic packaging.

53. How should DNA samples be stored?

  • Refrigerate liquid samples; freeze tissue samples.

54. What are three methods of collecting trace evidence?

  • Picking, Taping, Vacuuming.

55. What is fracture matching?

  • Aligning fragments to confirm they were once joined.

56. What does toxicology test for?

  • Drugs, alcohol, poisons.

57. What are common toxicology specimens?

  • Blood, urine, hair, liver, gastric contents.

58. What is a clandestine lab?

  • An illegal drug manufacturing site.

59. What are indicators of a clandestine lab?

  • Strong odors, chemical containers, improvised equipment.

60. How should digital evidence be stored?

  • Anti-static packaging, avoid extreme temperatures.