The document discusses the significance of footwear marks as forensic evidence, detailing their characteristics, collection methods, and identification techniques. Footwear prints can provide crucial information about a suspect's presence, number of individuals, and movement patterns, with various methods such as photography, casting, and new technologies like electrostatic lifting aiding in their collection. Identification techniques involve comparing marks directly or through super-imposition to ascertain their origins.

1. Footwear marks as a
forensic evidence
Name – SIRAT
Class- M.Sc. (1st
year)
Roll no. - 23151013

2. Content
1. Introduction
2. Forensic importance
3. Nature
4. Gait pattern
5. Collection of foot impressions
6. Identification techniques
7. References

3. Introduction
Footwear marks
 The marks made by the surface of the sole. That
contains distinctive patterns and are believed to be
present more frequently than fingerprints.
 They are found on all types of surfaces.

4. Forensic
Importance
Presence/absence of culprit/victim
Number of persons
Tracking the direction of entry or exit
Presence of animals
Gait Pattern
Fig. 2. Footwear Print

5. Nature
Footwear Prints
 Two dimensional.
 Obtained mainly on hard surfaces
(floor, glass etc.)
a. Patent prints (visible prints)
b. Latent prints (invisible prints)
Footwear Impressions
 Also known as plastic prints.
 Three dimensional.
 Obtained mainly on pliable surfaces.

6. Gait pattern
 Gait is the manner or style of walking.
 Gait pattern of each individual is unique.
 It helps to determine:
a. Sex of an individual
b. Height of an individual
c. Age of an individual
Fig. 3. Normal walking line
Fig. 4. Broken walking line

7. Collection of
foot marks
There are 4 basic methods for collecting
foot marks at the crime scene. These are-
1. Photography
2. Tracing/ sketching
3. Casting
4. Lifting

8. Photography
 It is the first step for processing the evidence.
 Camera should be kept parallel to the surface on
which the mark is found.
 The use of 35 mm. camera lens is becoming
popular because of the handy size and availability
of high quality films for the camera.
Fig: photograph of footwear print with
scale

9. Sketching/
tracing
 Crudest but easiest way to record track marks.
 Glass or plastic sheet is held over the mark. An
outline is traced over the sheet and details of the
marks.
 Highly subjective.
 Not very reliable.

10. Casting
 Material like plaster of Paris, wax, resins, plastic
powders, modelling clay, Sulphur, lead, woods
metal, plasticine, moulage material, silicone etc. can
be used in the process.

11. Preparation of casts:
a. Removal of extraneous material.
b. Spraying of shellac solution.
c. Spraying of mineral oil.
d. Placing of aluminium frame.
e. Pouring of plaster of Paris.
f. Reinforcing the casts.
g. More plaster of Paris.
h. Allow the caste to settle.
i. Engraving of details of the case.
j. Removing and washing of the casts.

12. Lifting
 Lifting techniques vary with different surfaces and
materials. The following techniques are commonly
used:
1. Dust prints
a. By using bromide paper sheet.
b. By using adhesive tape.
2. Oil prints
 To lift greasy and sticky prints : dust on the marks
with powder and then lifting of the dust prints can be
done.

13. 1. Holography :
• Used for recording prints on carpets (invisible prints), on
grass and other surfaces which undergo compression.
• Compression of fibres take place.
• The laser beam is able to record this compression on a
photographic plate.
• The photograph obtained is known as hologram.
Recent techniques used for lifting prints

14. 2. Electrostatic lifting technique:
 Used for lifting invisible marks on floors or floor
coverings.
Principle: The dust particles can be lifted at high
voltage on to a vinyl sheet, where they can be
photographed or fixed in a gelatin paper.
Process:
a. Black vinyl sheet is taken.
b. Sheet is covered with aluminium foil and high
voltage is applied.
c. Photograph is taken of the mark obtained.

15. 3. Silicone casts:
 These are new plastic compounds.
Advantage:
 They do not adhere strongly to the materials with which they come in
contact.
 Harden quickly in proper conditions.
Used to:
a. Lift the prints and shallow impressions from sloping and curved surfaces.
b. Prints even from walls can be lifted.

16. Identification
techniques
 Identification of marks is carried out by
comparison of the identifying features present
on the suspected marks and the specimen mark
prepared
 Comparison is carried out in following ways:
a. Side by side comparison
b. Super-imposition technique

17. 1. Side by side comparison
• Comparison of the positions and dimensions of
identifying features is done with the help of
photographs.
• Photographs are pasted side by side and a large
glass or plastic sheet ruled into small squares is
placed over the photographs. The identity or
non-identity of the common source becomes
apparent at once.

18. 2. Super-imposition technique
• In this technique footwear is smeared with fingerprint powder
and its mark is imprinted on a wide adhesive tape, which in
turn is pasted on a transparent plastic sheet. The transparency
is ready.
• It can be placed directly on the questioned mark or its
photograph and then can be compared.

19. References
 Sharma, B.R. (1974). Forensic Science in Criminal
Investigation and Trials. Central law Agency.
 Sharma, B.R. (1980). Footprints, Tracks and Trails In Criminal
Investigation And Trials. Central Law Agency.
 Srihari, S. N. (2011). Analysis of footwear impression
evidence. US DoJ Report.
 Tang, Y., Srihari, S. N., Kasiviswanathan, H., & Corso, J. J.
(2011). Footwear print retrieval system for real crime scene
marks. In Computational Forensics: 4th International Workshop,
IWCF 2010, Tokyo, Japan, November 11-12, 2010, Revised
Selected Papers 4 (pp. 88-100). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.