​Instructor: Sandy Siegel, CLPE
Course length:  3 hours

Analysis for Orientation and Searching Latent Prints
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Imagine you went to the mall and forgot the level at which you parked your car. You are tired from walking all afternoon and all five levels are full. How long would you need to search one level at a time. How much time you could save knowing which level to start your search.
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Not all cases require search clues. Maybe you have one print to compare to one individual. What if you have 5 people to compare to 100 latents, you may start to think about ways to narrow the search while maintaining confidence.
The goal of this training is to provide the attendee with a working knowledge of general ridge flow to determine where to start fingerprint searches, and an understanding that not all impressions are friction ridges. Discussion will include how simultaneous impressions and anatomical position indicate the way a surface was touched, thus indicating  a place to begin searching. Here are some of the basic discussion points on conclusions included in this course:
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  • Is it actual ridge detail?
  • How was the surface touched or the item held?
  • Is it from a finger, phalange, palm or foot?
  • What is the orientation of the print, lateral, up or down, left or right hand?
  • Do you have the same represented area?
 
Upon completion of this course of instruction, students will have the ability to be more effective in correct orientation and gain speed and confidence with latent comparison and searches. These strategies are intended to narrow the search. Decisions are not conclusive until all ridge detail has been compared. Palms and feet are discussed in general when they may appear as fingers.
 
TARGET AUDIENCE: Anyone who compares friction ridge detail. An understanding of basic pattern types and ridge flow is beneficial but not needed.

Please see our IAI Certifications page for more information.
Sandy Siegel, CLPE
Sandra "Sandy" Siegel started her fingerprint career with the Texas Department of Public Safety working in the Crime Records Ten-Print Section. She started teaching in 1997 and was responsible for teaching all new employees the technical aspects of pattern interpretation, classification, identification, and AFIS operations.

In December 2002 she took a position as a Latent Print Examiner with the Austin Police Department conducting AFIS searches, bench work in latent prints and Technical Lead for the Latent Print Section. In April of 2014 she accepted a position with the newly formed Houston Forensic Science Center until 2021 when she moved to Florida as a Latent Print Examiner.

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