forensic science Specialists work methodically to get quality latent prints to help place a person at a scene once they document and submit the best prints they can those prints come over to a latent print examiner like me first we look at all of the prints collected from a case to do that we scan the latens and run those prints through a variety of filters next it's time to dive into the details we look at the overall pattern of the print but then identifies smaller details like ridges Loops arches whirls creases pores and even scars we use a digital drawing tool to highlight these details in each image and it's not always fingerprints your palms feet and Toes also have unique Ridge detail that can be used for comparison then we run the print through our automated fingerprint identification system to find a similar looking impression to begin comparing to if we decide that the two prints are likely from the same Source like these fingerprints we call that an identification and this is then forwarded to detectives the identifications we make can determine if a person was at the scene of a crime link a series of crimes together and even identify victims of disaster