Expert Solutions
Marks & Traces

The work of FSS’s Marks and Traces section covers a broad spectrum of work, dealing with particulates, chemicals, lubricants and dyes, and physical fits – putting two pieces of material together to show that they once formed part of a single item. It also covers the identification of tools or footwear from tell-tale marks or imprints, such as a boot print left at the scene of a crime, or lever or hammer marks on metal, wood or other substances.

Forensic skills are used to establish an evidential link between a suspect or a suspect item and the scene of a crime. Other skills can demonstrate that a window was broken in a certain way, with a specific type of instrument or even by a certain person.

Marks and traces research is conducted at all FSS sites in the UK, with hundreds of individual tests conducted every year, supporting the investigation of everything from low level crimes to serious offences and terrorism.

In spite of the wide range of items that can be investigated, officers are fully cross-trained to be able to handle all aspects of the work. A disciplined, scientific approach is used in all examination procedures, with the interpretative skills of the individual officers then applied to assess the evidential value of the findings.

Officers may be called to crime scenes to help recover marks, or provide expert advice gathering appropriate evidence. In major incidents in particular, they can play an important role in establishing safe paths into crime scenes, avoiding the risk of potential evidence being damaged or compromised.

The assessment of marks demands a greater degree of visual observation in order to compare toolmarks or demonstrate a physical fit between fragments. Processes are constantly checked and refined, so that scientists can be as certain as possible of not only achieving accurate results, but of making the correct interpretation of the data obtained, too.

One of the main advantages for the organisation is the integration of services. Results from one area of analysis may not constitute strong evidence on their own, but FSS has the capacity to build up a range of findings within its different areas of forensic research, for example DNA and fingerprint matching, to maximise their potential.