You see them in the police procedurals all the time: the person every cop turns to when they want to know about the body. I can’t count the number of short scenes in morgues featuring someone kitted out in scrubs tossing around information like time and cause of death.

Obviously, it’s someone with extensive medical knowledge, but that’s where things get complicated. Are they a coroner? A medical examiner? A forensic pathologist?

It’s not sexy and can be tedious, but documentation is the most important aspect of crime scene investigation. Everyone relies on having accurate information about the scene and any evidence (or lack thereof) inside. Oftentimes, lawyers and police officers never see the crime scene itself and just rely on the hopefully extensive documentation of it.

So, how do we document crime scenes?

We all leave fingerprints behind every day. Anyone who wears glasses or owns a mirror has likely needed to clean them off. No matter how often we wash our hands, a natural buildup of grease on our skin means that we can’t stop leaving fingerprints. It may be annoying to clean, but they can get criminals in a world of trouble.

Let’s talk about how law enforcement (and writers) use fingerprints to finger the culprits.

The History of Fingerprinting
People figured out early on that fingerprints are a good way to identify someone. Ancient civilizations used fingerprints as seals or signatures on important documents and contracts long before paper was invented. However, the idea of using fingerprints in criminal investigations didn’t happen until much later.

By Harri Blomberg - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=794690

The Total Station pictured above must be accompanied by one or more prisms mounted on a long stick with a back target (pictured below). You sight through the Total Station's scope to record the elevation and position of the prism. By taking multiple readings, you can recreate the crime scene later.

Welcome to the glittering world of forensic science, where solving mysteries is only half the fun. Ever wondered how forensic technicians make bloodstains at crime scenes light up like neon signs? Spoiler alert: it’s not magic, it’s Luminol!

So, what’s the deal with this glow-in-the-dark wonder? Luminol is a chemical compound that glows bright blue when it reacts with the iron in hemoglobin. In simpler terms, if there’s even a trace of blood on a surface, Luminol will make it pop.