CLPEX Chat Board

We do often get good lifts sent in by field officers so I am not sure why they make such a statement below. This was a reverse hit on AFIS with a poor quality latent.

Police: Fingerprint Solves 2004 Burglary

Georgia, Vermont - January 7, 2008

Debra Raymond, 40, was smiling when she arrived at court to be charged with burglary, but the smile disappeared when we gave her a chance to tell us her side of the story. She had no comment about the burglary police say she committed at a home in Georgia in October of 2004.

Police say she stole goods worth $6,000-- including a camcorder, a lap top and a $3,500 bracelet.

"I think my wife's words were she felt violated," recalls Dan Fossi.

Fossi and his family were the victims and were certain the crime would never be solved.

"We didn't think that anything would happen from this point on. It's been three years and we hadn't heard anything more," he said.

"During the time I was there I was able to lift what's called a latent fingerprint off of the jewelry box," explains Vt. State Police Trooper John Bruzzi.

But Bruzzi lifted a fingerprint at the scene and sent it to the crime lab and last month-- more than three years later-- the lab got a hit matching the print to Debra Raymond for a burglary she was convicted of last year.

"And to see the one come back to her was great. We can link her directly to that burglary," says Bruzzi.

"It's very unusual. First, it's rare to have fingerprints that are collectible by the police. It's very rare to be able to collect a good print that is then sent to the lab. And I've never seen one hit or matched after three years of being at the laboratory," says Franklin County Prosecutor Jim Hughes.

"I was very surprised. I was sitting at home, and like I said, my daughter gave me the phone and said, it's the state police. And I was like, uh-oh, what's going on?"

Police say there was a rash of burglaries in this area three years ago, including the one that yielded the fingerprint that led to the charges against Debra Raymond. They say that she has denied any involvement in the other burglaries.

Raymond pleaded innocent to one count of burglary for the three-year old break-in. She was released on conditions pending trial and remains on probation for the burglary conviction from last year.

I got a TLI hit on a 3-year-old burglary in California a number of years ago. When it went to trial, the defense was, "It was 3 years ago...I don't remember what happened back then."

He was convicted.

Good one!

Wasn't it Mark Twain who said, "Denial ain't just a river in Egypt"?

How an agencies officers view the value of scene latents depends on how vigorously the detectives follow up, how the officers are trained, and how supervisors atta-boy the officers for a hit. When I was with a small sheriff's office, it wasn't at all "rare" to get hits from officer latents. Not every week, certainly, but a lot more than one hit in three years, and a lot more latents that would have hit if we hadn't already found the crook another way and matched him ourselves.

One that comes to mind was a burglary of a house where there were no leads and no evidence, other than a single latent recovered from the back of a wristwatch by a patrol deputy in his first two weeks on the job. No hits through the state, but Charles ran it through the Austin PD database and hit a guy from a single public intoxication arrest in which the only identification was a name he gave. He was arrested again about a year later. Kind of an interesting warrant and indictment, since the only ID was a name given orally, so the charge was styled, "The State of Texas v. An Hispanic male who has used the name _____ and whose fingerprints and photograph are attached hereto."

The point is, the rookie officer got a big atta-boy from the Sheriff at a staff meeting, and you can bet he was a gung-ho seeker of latents from then on. Another patrol officer lifted the print with the severe vertical pressure distortion that Charles put on the FIG page. We have no idea what the kid who left it was doing in our county in that subdivision where he did the burglary, but, again, Charles hit him off the local print database, and that officer, too, got the warm fuzzy treatment. Stuff like that keeps them looking hard and thinking. Of course, they were provided with basic kits and training.

Franklin County is a bit larger in population than my county, and they ought to be getting more latents and more hits. Or maybe they just don't have that much burglary.

All of our deputies receive a basic latent processing kit and training in Basic Academy, including some lecture time on History, etc. I have them process cars, cans, and a variety demo weapons so they area not intimidated by stuff. When a deputy does his own processing which makes an AFIS Hit, I print out an "AFIS ACE" certificate and send it, along with a State awarded "HIT" pin to his supervisor. These are then given out during briefing and are very popular. They have become quite competitive in wanting to win that recognition. If they do not make an AFIS Hit but their latents are identified through a traditional comparison, I send their supervisor a "Diligent Duster" certificate to award during briefing. Needless to say, I have a daily slew of latents being submitted from the deputies in the field. A little positive acknowledgement goes a long way and those pins are like gold sometimes.

Interesting idea, Kathleen. Our university run police academy allows me 6-8 hours of instruction time for new recruits. Some of these guys/gals become interested in processing scenes, some would rather "cuff 'em and stuff 'em" and forget the "artsy-craftsy" stuff. It is important that field officers know available techniques, but I am beginning to discourage them from using the more advanced techniques (anything other than brush and powder) in the field when a free crime lab is available. When I'm in the field, I never process anything that I can bring back to the lab where my lighting is better, and I have access to temperature/humidity controlled fuming chambers, vacuum chambers, digital capture devices, appropriate chemicals with fume hoods, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to preserve a latent print in its freshest and most visible condition, once developed. Field conditions are never optimal for latent print work unless the surface cannot be brought to the lab.

I work with (for) about 50 agencies, not just one, so the task of "attaboy" recognition isn't quite as easy or well publicized, but it is a great idea. I'll do some thinking about how to use that. Thanks!