Fingerprints

[jennieb]

Just a question..Back in October of 08 our neighboors house was broken into however the burglar got away before the police arrived. I worry that he may come back and try to break into our house as well. The neighboors told us that the investigators haven't caught the criminal yet. She did say the window was fingerprinted so how long does all that take and is it possible that the criminal was caught already but the police haven't said anything to protect their identity?

[Roger Dat]

It all depends on several factors, quality of the print, if there it matches a print in the system or not. Unfortunately this is not like CSI. Fingerprint evidence is NOT as common as people think. It also could have been a print from someone in the house, a neighbor friend etc.

[mcsap]

The presence of " fingerprints " does not guarantee anything.

A poor quality print ( blame the crook) is just that,

If the crook was never arrested before than there wont be any prints on file to match up to. BUT....if it is a good quality print, it will sit in the FBI/State database and once every 6 months or so, they will run it through the system again. We have solved crimes when new burglars got a DUI a year later

[Creeker]

Believe it or not, there are many times that latents are attempted just to make the homeowner happy that the PD is attempting to find them.

I worked Crime Scene for 17 or 18 years and couldn't believe I was called to some of the scenes simply so the Supervisor could say he did everything he could do.

There were many times that I'd depart a scene, knowing that what I had been able to lift or find was inadequate to be used to i.d. anyone, but the Homeowner was happy that I had been there and tried.

There were a few times that the fact that I'd been there smoked out the true culprit. Once, the victims daughter admitted that she'd helped her boyfriend do it. I was actually a little disappointed on that one, because I'd gotten some good lifts and was sure I'd get hits on them... I'd like to see THAT on any of the CSI shows... :rolleyes:

Statistically, most break-ins (outside of the Ghetto) are committed by someone who has been in your house as a guest or repairman... someone you know.

Take common sense steps to protect your residence... trim back shrubbery from windows, motion sensor lights, timers inside, don't display and show off valuables to the neighborhood kids and pay attention around your house... and 9 times out of 10 you should be OK. For the other 1/10th, make sure your Homeowners policy against theft is paid up.