Types of Fingerprints

PATTERNS

Fingerprints are classified by arch, loop, or whirl. All three of these types of fingerprints have more specified types. There are eight general prints in total: the Plain Arch, the Tented Arch, the Central Pocket Loop, the Ulnar Loop, the Radial Loop, the Plain Whorl, the Accidental Whorl, and the Double Loop Whorl.

TYPES

Fingerprints at a crime scene fall into three catagories: Plastic, Latent, and Patent.

• Plastic Fingerprints are when a print is left on something and creates an indentation or visible mark. This often happens with wet paint, the gum of envelopes, and substances that can melt from the heat of a hand, such as chocolate.
• Latent Fingerprints are prints that have disappeared to the naked eye as a result of time or some other effect. They can be found by dusting with powder or fuming the area with special types of gasses.
• Patent Fingerprints are prints that have been left because a finger had a foreign substance on it, such as paint, dirt, or blood. They are visible to the naked eye, and thus are usually photographed instead of lifted as is the case of latent prints.