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Glove Analysis Using ACE-V and Adobe Photoshop

             Recently, an arrest of three suspected burglars in Grand Rapids led to a subsequent search warrant of their vehicle.  The individuals were suspected of several other burglaries in the area, yet fingerprint evidence was negligible or nullified through elimination prints from the residents.

            The crime scene technician that was involved in the processing of these scenes had taken a special interest in them because of the unusually defined glove markings found at the point of entry of one of the break-ins. He used standard silver powder and was able to obtain several lifts that yielded unique quality for possible identification.

            The search warrant produced a leather batting-glove that seemed to have similar stitch marks to one of the lifts that was produced at the crime scene.  A closer look seemed to confirm a strong possibility that the glove was used by one of the suspects when he committed the burglary.  An examination was needed to provide any firm conclusions.

Analysis

            Illustration 1 shows the same stitch mark curving through the areas of the glove section and of the silver powder lift. This is very similar to looking for pattern types and ridge flow in the analysis stage of fingerprint identification.

Comparison

            By lining up the stitching in each exemplar, a split can be seen with a closer examination. The area that is clearest in the lifted print is found near this curved area that runs from top to bottom and right to left.  After scanning the lifted print and a close-up digital photograph of the glove surface into the computer, Adobe Photoshop was used to look at the detail of the grain pattern found in known glove mark and the lifted print. Illustration 2 shows this detail.

            While bifurcations, ridge endings and dots are generally the minutia characteristics defined by Grand Rapids Police Latent Print Examiners, these would hardly apply in this particular identification.  The close-up images provided a unique vantage point to study the shapes of the individual grains within the leather pattern.

Evaluation

            Using the paint tool and a selected color that contrasted the backgrounds of each image, the outline of each individual grain was highlighted.  Illustration 3 exhibits this procedure.  The results of this process produced a unique set of design lines that match from the known print to the lifted print.  This is clarified by taking away the background layers in each image. The residual colored patterns are shown side by side in Illustration 4.

Verification

            With these enlarged images of the detail found in the grain pattern of each exemplar, it was a fairly simple identification.  While it is rare to have such an opportunity in the careers of most latent print examiners, this identification will be used to tie these suspects to a crime scene otherwise unsolved.