If you thought leaving your fingerprints behind at the scene of a crime was a bad idea – you’re right, and it’s about to get worse. Some researchers at the Sheffield Hallam University have developed a way to capture fingerprints that can identify substances touched and secretions from a person’s body. With this information, investigators can find out more about a suspect’s actions and habits. This is especially useful for first time criminals who won’t have any prints to match in the police database – their actions and habits can involuntarily give them away to the authorities.
This will no doubt help the police track down criminals a lot more easily in the future – with information of the criminal’s habits, they’ll know what to look out for and have more ways to link them to a crime. However, this technology is not yet available to the authorities – though scientists hope that it will be within the next three years. With rapidly advancing technology, it’s going to be a lot harder to commit a crime and not be caught. So, criminals out there – beware! Or just don’t commit crimes in the first place.