Lifting Footprints(shoe impressions actually) electrostatic dust lifter and trace evidence

[@emlcd]

Thank you for making this video, you just helped me out a lot with my paper for Crime Scene Investigation II.

[@profmccutch]

+Alexa Kush How did you do on your paper?

[@emlcd]

I got 250/250! Thank you so much!

[@farhansheikhfs4324]

Thank you ❤

[@miloszekic377]

Great video, greeting from a colleague from Serbia, Belgrade crime investigators.

[@profmccutch]

Milos Zekic awesome. Thanks for watching.

[@suzanneaufang4976]

Can a foot impression on Mylar be preserved by setting it with super hold hairspray?

[@Noarenne]

Hi, Mike! Just found your channel and it looks great. I'm writing a fiction book about a homicide in 1973, and I wonder if you know what kind of techniques were used for lifting dusty foot prints from asphalt back then. I've looked all over the internet, but I only find how to do it nowadays, and my reference book 'Practical Homicide Investigation' doesn't mention it either. I'd be more than happy for an answer. Thank you in advance. /A.E.

[@profmccutch]

Interesting. Dusty prints could always be lifted with tape. They would have to overlap the tape if they didn't have a wide enough piece. If the prints are visible in the dust, you would just need to preserve them. Photograph the heck out of them using a scale would have been done as well. Hope that helps.

[@Noarenne]

Lovely. Thanks a lot. I wasn't sure that regular tape would work. :-)

[@1234567890erik123456]

You dont need to use alot of it, in the article he put a line of microsil at the base of the print then he put a siliconbased paper on top and rolled the microsil out over the print. But the accutrans would probably be better. Its interesting to see how other coutries work.

[@Banjomute]

What if the target surface is painted white? Thanks

[@1234567890erik123456]

Do you dust for shoeprints in the US. In Sweden where i live we use the same techniques that you do but we also dust for shoeprints with powder and lift it with mikrosil.

[@profmccutch]

I have never done that, but I guess you would be able to. If it is a full foot impression that would take a lot of mikrosil $$$. If you used the mikrosil, you could also use the Accutrans gun as well. I did a video on that too.

[@theboysnextgen]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYCxl4SZfMlgq6c I saw a video that uses this same technique with fingerprints.

[@rashidlatif1866]

can we take the fingerprint with this paper and asla machine?

[@mychess5233]

is this a special light u using or a regular ?

[@ContingencyLabs]

Are you aware of any more affordable alternatives to this purpose-made static generator?

[@ContingencyLabs]

For example, have you tried the Stat-Lift product? What about the "stun gun" method of applying charge?

[@profmccutch]

Yes. I have used stati lifts. They work well. I have a video using them on here

[@profmccutch]

I have not used a stun gun though. You can get stati lifts for about 35 bucks for 12 pack

[@ContingencyLabs]

@@profmccutch Oh sorry--I missed that video. Thanks for the reply!

[@ContingencyLabs]

@@profmccutch Arrowhead tells me that they doesn't sell Stat Lifts to any non-governmental entity--not because it's a sensitive product but because it's not worth their time to collect/process sales tax. Weird. Anyway, in lieu of that method, I tried out the "stun gun" method and made a brief video on my channel. I didn't discuss the professional context (proper package, etc.) as I'm not a forensic science professional and this was only a proof of concept. But I'd be interested to hear your thoughts, if you're curious. Thanks again for your fantastic videos. I've learned a lot from you and it's sent me down a fun rabbit hole, in terms of learning more of the analysis side of forensics.

[@noname7981]

what if someone covered the bottom of the shoe? or burned the whole shoe or the soles after the crime??

[@profmccutch]

Fred Derf that is a risk for all crimes. You won’t get evidence at every crime but you have to try. That is why we look for different types of evidence. Maybe they wore gloves but didn’t change their shoes.

[@khk5409]

Can I get specific, precise information of black films?

[@profmccutch]

K HK www.bvda.com.

[@khk5409]

@@profmccutch Thank you very much!!

[@wingdingism]

Great video! Thanks for the demo, it was very helpful! +1 sub to your channel

[@Kicess01]

pretty cool

[@larissangwe]

How would you collect a bloody footprint in the soil?

[@profmccutch]

+Larissa Ngwe Thanks for watching. You ask a good question. If the impression was in dirt and there was blood evidence, I would collect a sample of the blood evidence and then cast the foot print with dental stone.

[@larissangwe]

+Mike McCutcheon oh haha thanks I thought so. does that method still work if the print doesn't have a good depth?

[@profmccutch]

+Larissa Ngwe Sure. Just put a dam around the print, spray the heck out of it with hair spray and then pour away. In light sand I use oblique lighting and photograph it first, just in case.

[@larissangwe]

Oh ok. Thank, you're so helpful!

[@jcfbaby3]

Can Electrostatic Lifting Devices be used to lift fingerprints at a crime scene?

[@profmccutch]

No. The Electronic Dust Lifter won't be able to get the details of a fingerprint.

[@jcfbaby3]

thank you!

[@louiswatson7156]

it's a footwear mark not a footprint

[@profmccutch]

+Spectrum I agree, but you will find numerous peer reviewed articles that use the term "footprints." I prefer footwear impressions. Most people when they are searching for videos on this topic won't search "footwear" and will search for "footprints" so I have to keep that in mind too. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching.

[@louiswatson7156]

And you powder not dust

[@profmccutch]

+Spectrum The Fingerprint Source Book from the National Institute of Justice uses "dusting" as a colloquial term of using powder to develop latent prints. You certainly could use "powder" in place of "dusting", but I prefer dusting. Thanks for watching.