NCJ Number
233783
Journal
Identification Canada Volume: 32 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2009 Pages: 90-112
Date Published
September 2009
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This issue's three feature articles describe the computer program used by the Canadian Police Service information Centre (CPIC) to associate footprint images received from policing agencies across Canada to known makes and styles of footwear; describes how this software was used in a particular case; and presents a case that shows the persistency of friction-ridge impressions on a substrate.
Abstract
The computer program called Shoeprint Image Capture and Retrieval (SICAR) relies on policing agencies sending midrange and close-up photos of full or partial shoeprint impressions. The midrange photo should show the relative location of the footwear impression in relation to the crime scene. The close-up photo should show the overall pattern of the sole and also the shapes of the elements within the pattern. SICAR is shape recognition software, so capturing the details of the elements within the pattern is critical for a successful search. When used to its full potential, SICAR can be a useful tool in helping investigators narrow down suspect footwear and link footwear to several crime scenes. The second article describes how SICAR was used to match the shoe prints from a crime scene (theft of projectors in a university classroom) to the footwear of a particular individual. The article describes how SICAR and alert security guards at the university, who had been provided with the information produced by SICAR, were able to link a student to the crime scene. The third article reports on a case in which fingerprints located in areas not normally touched by those using or looting a safe were traced to a welder for the company who manufactured the safe some 17 to 20 years prior to the detection of the fingerprints.