My house was robbed, the police said all the fingerprints found couldn't be used because they were in dust.

Question

Is that true? Can't they photograph the prints that were found on the dusty surface and use them that way? Is this just a case of the police not caring and not wanting to spend the time since it was just a robbery?

They basically didn't take any prints of anything.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

What you see on T.V. is not what happens in real life. Fingerprints are very useful if you have a body to go with them. Those would be called comparison prints. Unless there is a clean, dry, smooth surface, the odds of lifting a good print are slim.

Source(s):

Me, retired Police Officer

Answer 2

Fingerprints work when the natural oils on the ridges on your fingers are transferred to a surface. If the surface is dirty, the dust will stick to the fingers and the oil will not be deposited onto the surface. The dust acts as a nautural barier between the finger and the surface. There are actually very few suitable surfaces for good fingerprints and the conditions must be just so. The CSI show makes it look really easy, but it isn't.

Source(s):

Canadian Copper

Answer 3

My home was robbed and they didn't print either. It sucks but he police are way too busy to be dealing with petty home robberies.

Answer 4

Sounds like the cops weren't impressed by your housekeeping skills.

In reality, it depends on how many cases the cops have to work on, what was taken (value wise), etc... Many robberies are too insignificant to solve. If all the robber got were your CDs, TV, Stereo, and the silverware, the cops aren't going to spend much time on the case.

And let's be realistic, the real world isn't like CSI. Many districts don't have the money for forensics on every crime.

Answer 5

There must be a lot of dust in your house. Those guys on CSI can get prints off practically anything.

Answer 6

Sounds like the housekeeper did it!

Answer 7

The truth is only a very small percentage of fingerprints are actually good enough samples to get a positive read. It is definitely not like you see on TV. Police can usually tell by looking at the print before lifting it if it will yield positive results.Things like dust, moisture, time, smears, etc. can ruin a potentially good print. You have to be able to make a clear distinction between the ridge lines and details and the minute dust particles were probably enough to render the lines unclear. You may be partially correct though... but usually more for a reason of lack of time/ manpower combined with the low probability of it actually solving the case. I am a police officer and believe me, we love seeing people get caught and brought to justice. It is just not possible to fingerprint every crime scene unless it looks like a good print is there.

Source(s):

Police officer

Answer 8

They should have taken photographs of the prints, even if they were smeared because it could be possible evidence. Depending on what was taken, they should have dusted for prints around the point of entry (I.e. door knob, etc.). They can even dust for foot prints.

There MAY have been a detective at the scene, but more than likely not. I would contact the police department, obtain a copy of the police report, find out who the lead det. is and request to speak to her/him.

It sounds like it was a burglary (not when you were home) and not a robbery (when you are present).

Answer 9

Prints are a lot harder then you think. They have to be SOLID prints and the slightest movement can smudge a print. Its not as easy as it is in CSI and it can be hard to pull a clean print off of dust especially because of all the dust that would be pulled up.

Source(s):

I was originally going to be a lawyer but changed my mind.

Answer 10

We were robbed too a few years ago and the same thing, we had finger prints, but unless it was a homicide they aren't going to do anything. It's a waste of their time. Now if there were big bucks involved and they had the funding, now that would be a different story. However because of the dust particles, it could change the impression of the finger printing and make it harder to read and be an identical match. The only thing they did was get a list of what was missing and put on their report so that if something should show up somewhere else, they would be able to trace it back to you. They needed the serial numbers off of our TV and VCR. or any other identifying marks on anything. Chances are you may never recover what was gone unless by a slim chance you got lucky, but hopefully you have insurance on the stuff that really mattered.
Oh, had to tell you of a story of someone down the road who also had money stollen from his house. It was winter and they followed the snow tracks to another person's house and were able to arrest him. lol

Answer 11

I would think they could get finger prints off everything..forsenic can do it.