Science - 'Gloveprints' spell doom for criminals

LONDON: British police have been nabbing criminals based on their gloveprints with the help of a significant breakthrough technique developed in the
field of forensic science.

Database consisting of thousands of gloveprints, collected by forensics officers, compiled by Liane Marsh, of Derbyshire police, had helped police solve at least 10 crimes in the past year.

The method formed by the police scientist assisted detectives in matching a set of prints found on one crime to those found at another scene, making it simpler for the officers to identify those who had left their gloveprints on surfaces.

Marsch said another database for hundreds of types and makes of glove could further help to identify the type of glove used in a crime since, like fingerprints, no two gloves were identical. "This is a very exciting innovation. Police officers wish someone had thought of it years ago," she said. "Earlier, whenever glove marks were found at the scene of the crime their hearts used to sink, because it meant the culprit had covered their hands and left no identifying fingerprints".