After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Understand those characteristics of fingerprints that enable them to be used as a means of personal identification and allow them to be systematically classified.
• Distinguish between latent, visible and plastic fingerprints and outline the main techniques used to develop the first of these.
• Describe the methods used to recover footwear impressions from an incident scene and discuss how they may be subsequently compared with suspect footwear.
• Appreciate the significance of any bite marks present at a crime scene and their potential role in the identification of the individual responsible.
• Discuss the evidential value of tool marks connected with an incident scene and the means by which suspect tools may be identified as the instruments involved.
• Outline the valuable forensic evidence that may be afforded by recording and preserving any tyre marks left at an incident scene.
• Understand the role of textile products both in the creation of impressions and as the recipients of damage marks.