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INVESTIGATIONS 22 Law Enforcement Technology November 2014 www.officer.com T he young man snuck quietly around the corner of the house, his breath coming out in puffs, warmth fighting to retain its heat in the sub-zero temperatures. Wiping the windowsill off with a gloved hand, he patted his pocket reassuring himself of the jewelry nestled inside before he made his way into the darkness, soft crunching the only indicator he was outside the single-story ranch-style home that was not his. Disappearing into the darkness he inhaled, deeply sat- isfied he had accomplished his task and grateful for the distance he put between himself and the house. What he didn't realize was that he had left something behind. Under the window in the snow rested a perfect size 9 impression of his Xtratuf boot. Footwear and tire tracks are two common pieces of evidence left behind at a crime scene, especially when there's snow. Although snow is a perfect medium, many complications exist with locating and collecting forensic evidence. "If you live in a place like I'm at you have snow more than half the year," explains James Wolfe, a current Alaska certified police instructor who retired from the Alaska State Crime Lab—Anchorage. "Up here they will deal with it more than any other impression. If you're in an area without snow the problem of finding three dimensional impressions is low when you've got a lot of concrete. But, when it snows you have them." Because of the rich opportunity to gather impres- sion evidence when it snows, it's impor- tant to think about the techniques for locating and collecting footwear and tire tracks for when it does. Value of track evidence In his law enforcement training, "Documenting and Collecting Snow Impression Evidence," Wolfe looks at an investigator's point of view and asks, "Is it really worth my time?" His answer: abso- lutely. Track evidence provides immedi- ate feedback at the scene to the inves- tigator about movements of suspects, victims, witnesses and vehicles, number of suspects and types of shoes, tires and vehicles to search for. If known, laboratory comparison of shoes and/or tires can provide important associative evidence, including positive identification or exclusion. Footwear and tire tracks have unique characteristics Get the most out of cold footwear and icy tire impressions By Michelle Perin Photos courtesy of James Wolfe, Anchorage, Alaska