An integrated approach for obtaining forensically relevant information from shoe traces when investigating crimes

On the basis of references, the article considers aspects of an integrated approach for obtaining forensically significant information on footwear traces when disclosing and investigating crimes. The use of special classical forensic knowledge plays the main and important role when obtaining forensically significant information on traces at a crime scene. Of special value among all trace information at a crime scene is traces of footwear of a person. In practice, every year the percent of their obtaining increases, though insignificantly. For example, in 2014, the staff of the expert and forensic divisions of the Expert and Forensic Center of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Irkutsk Oblast made 26,485 inspections of crime scenes, at 5,253 scenes traces of footwear of a person, 6,936 pieces, were found and obtained, which is 19.8 %, while in 2008 it was only 15.1 %. The criminalistic value of footwear traces is rather great, as they play an important role in the establishment of circumstances of a crime, in search and exposure of the person who committed a crime and his/her accomplices, especially in hot pursuit. Scientific literature on research of footwear traces found at a crime scene writes more about evidentiary information received as a result of identification expert examination of these traces. Thus, it is often forgotten that success in an investigation much depends on the forensically significant information received after preliminary research of footwear traces at a crime scene, especially at an initial stage. Preliminary research of footwear traces, depending on the character of traces, their quality and quantity, their time, etc., can give a lot of various information, including the anatomic and functional features of the person. The integrated approach to the studying of footwear traces at a crime scene allows to fully and comprehensively receive important information essential for making investigative and search versions with maximum reliability. This reliability is based on the fact that a person has independence and freedom is yet limited by a number of objective factors and in general is not inclined to an excessively high invariance of behavior. Of special value in finding persons involved in a crime when obtaining footwear traces is their check in local card files. Thus, according to the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation No. 70 of February 10, 2006, local expert and forensic divisions have various forensic accounts, including those of footwear prints from scenes of unsolved crimes.

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