Lee and Gaensslen's Advances in Fingerprint Technology

Reflecting new discoveries in fingerprint science, Lee and Gaensslen’s Advances in Fingerprint Technology, Third Edition has been completely updated with new material and nearly double the references contained in the previous edition. The book begins with a detailed review of current, widely used development techniques, as well as some older, historical methods. Next, it describes more recent advances as well as novel, emerging technologies that have just begun to reach maturity.

Highlights in this edition include:

• Comprehensive details about work performed by the UK Home Office on the use of powders and brushes
• Advances in the area of blood reagents, and the transition from previously carcinogenic peroxidase reagents to new and safer protein staining methods
• The vacuum metal deposition technique
• The cyanoacrylate fuming process
• An update on ninhydrin analogs
• Emerging trends in print development using nanotechnology
• Latent print recovery and decontamination at scenes tainted by chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive materials
• A model for quantitatively interpreting and assessing minutiae in a print
• Methods for digital and chemical imaging of latent prints

With contributions by a renowned group of leading forensic scientists and criminalistics experts, this valuable work presents the latest progress in fingerprint technologies, comparison, and identification.

Robert S. Ramotowski is currently employed as the Chief Research Scientist in the Forensic Services Division of the United States Secret Service, where he has worked as a research scientist for more than 18 years. His job duties include the coordination of forensic research activities within the laboratory (as well as between other entities, including academia, industry, and other domestic and international law enforcement laboratories), particularly in the areas of latent print visualization, questioned document analysis, instrumental analysis, and ink and paper chemistry. He has published more than two dozen articles on latent print and document chemistry and given or conducted more than 50 lectures and workshops in more than a dozen countries. He was awarded distinguished membership status in the International Association for Identification in 2008.