Importance of Examination Gloves During Crime Scene Investigation

Precaution at Crime Scene

It is a standard universal protocol at the crime scene that investigators do the best they can to preserve the natural state of the scene. Meaning, it must prevent any form of alteration as it can affect how evidences are gathered or interpreted, as well as the loss of potential evidence to the crime. There are also hazard prevention measure included in this practice, knowing that a dead corpse is involved in the crime scene.

But more importantly, emphasis is placed here on the preservation of the body and the overall crime scene. All of these factors contribute in arriving at a theoretical recreation of the events that could help solve the mystery of the crime.

Use of Latex Gloves

Latex gloves are among the most commonly used items by criminal investigators upon arriving at the scene. It serves various purposes: it helps preserve the original condition of the crime scene, prevent investigators from leaving their own imprint to the scene, and also protect them from chemical or biological hazards involved when working at a scene of a crime. However, protection against scene contamination is only secondary to the use of latex gloves since its main purpose evolve around crime scene processing.

When crime scene investigators work on processing evidence in the scene to reconstruct it, their main objective is to prevent their skin from having contact with any of the physical evidence. Aside from that, it will also prevent them from contaminating the evidence, and vice versa. Hence, wearing of gloves on the crime scene is mandatory.

Procedure in Using Gloves

Now that the concept behind wearing gloves during crime scene investigation has been established, crime scene technicians are looking at improving the methods of preservation of a crime scene. The main objective of using gloves is to prevent investigators from leaving their own fingerprints on the scene. However, many claim that it does not offer enough protection anymore. Therefore, new recommendations for using gloves at a scene would require investigators to use a minimum of two latex gloves to be worn. This is most essential when investigators are required to handle items or evidences.

Also, experts suggest that investigators use only approved type of disposable gloves at the crime scene. Latex gloves are one of the highly accepted type of gloves to use, while others prefer the liquid barrier rubber gloves. Other type of gloves that can be used include vinyl examination gloves and various nitrile gloves.

About the Result of Crime Scene Examination

As methods of crime scene investigation continue to improve, investigating officers and crime scene technicians are looking for more effective ways in which they are able to conclude the results of their investigation. Evidences are an important factor to consider, therefore all efforts are focused on preserving the natural condition of these evidences. Gloves are common items used at the crime scene to aid to this objective. However, recent findings have shown that even these gloves can still produce evident fingerprints on items handled at the crime scene.

Therefore, research are thoroughly conducted in order to determine the best type of gloves to use for the job. Latex gloves produced minimal markings and indiscernible patterns or ridges. Meanwhile, other types of gloves such as nitrile had visible markings but the fingerprint ridge detail cannot be observed. Vinyl gloves, meanwhile, were able to prevent palmar reflections through the glove.

Choosing the proper type of gloves to use during investigation are crucial in preserving latent print at the crime scene. This factor is being closely looked into by expert investigators to increase accuracy of their investigation results.