The enhancement of fingerprints on kitchen knives that have been through a wash cycle in the dishwasher

During the committing of a crime, fingerprints can be deposited onto an endless number of substrates, and can be exposed to a vast range of environmental conditions. The substrate a fingerprint is deposited onto and the environment it is exposed to, affects the techniques that can be used to enhance that fingerprint as well as the persistence of that fingerprint, and therefore its ability to be identified and enhanced, by a forensic practitioner. This is particularly true for when a fingerprint is exposed to a destructive environment, either through the nature of the crime, or in attempt to destroy evidence by the perpetrator of the crime. \n \nThis literature review aims to explore the literature to consider the fingerprint enhancement techniques that could be used to enhance fingerprints deposited onto the metal and plastic substrates of a kitchen knife, and exposed to the wetting and washing environment of dishwasher. This literature review will therefore provide the background required to conduct experimental validation of this same purpose. The Results of this study will aid forensic investigators when making decisions on the possibility of recovering prints that were attepted to be cleaned and removed off an item, such as a knife, when suspected to have been used or important to an investigation and recovered from a dishwasher. Subsequently, it will aid in the decision of which enhancement technique to use in this situation.