Perishable food item processing...

[josher89]

Does anyone have a policy on how they handle requests for latent print processing on perishable food items (or their packaging)? We don't currently have one and I'd like to have something. Maybe the consensus is that, barring some incredible circumstance, they aren't accepted for processing. Just looking for some guidance.

Also, I was looking at some research detailing items stored at colder than room temps and came across this JFI beauty:

Development of Fingerprint Impressions on Plastic Bags Over Time and Under Different Storage Temperatures
Volume:44 Issue:3 Dated:(May-June 1994) Pages:266-269

Anyone have a copy they could send me? I'm just curious about the outcomes of the storage conditions.

Thanks.

[SConner]

We accept just about anything and I've had everything from a plastic hot dog container with chili residue on it to mostly consumed beverage containers, etc. etc. Our department's "rule" is that if you're impounding something like a partially consumed soda bottle, drain it first, and then you can impound the bottle. How they drain the bottle brings up another issue. Biology doesn't want them pouring out the liquid through the mouth so we usually end up receiving bottles that have been punctured with the officer's knife .

We have a variety of packaging materials available for the field personnel. Paper backed plastic or straight paper packaging would be preferable for something like a mostly empty but not completely empty soda bottle. We've had some beverage containers come in from older cases that were packaged in straight plastic and had visible mold growing all over the inside of the bag and on the item. We don't open those and just send them back as unable to be analyzed/processed.

[fishhikekayakbike]

I have a copy of the JFI you mentioned, and would be glad to scan and email it to you, or fax it over, whichever you would like.

[josher89]

fishhikekyakbike--I love the handle!

I sent you an IM with my email address; I'd love a copy. Thanks!

In case you don't know (I didn't the first time I got one) go to User Control Panel and from there you can access your personal messages.

[Ken Chappell]

If we collect something like a banana peal or a milk carton, something that would rot, spoil or turn rancid in time then the article is processed, photographed and destroyed with an explanation in the report as to why it was destroyed.