What are major case prints?

What are major case prints?

• A. Fingers fingertips, palms, and side of palms
• B. Only fingerprints
• C. Ear prints
• D. Footprints

Answer: (A)

Major case prints are the friction ridge impressions taken from the hands that provide the most information for identification: the fingertips, the palms, and the sides of the hands. This combination captures the most ridge detail and is the standard set investigators collect at a scene for comparison, often used with AFIS and manual analysis. Printing only the fingers misses the palm ridges, while ear prints and footprints are separate types of evidence and not part of the hand-print set used as major case prints.

Major case prints are the friction ridge impressions taken from the hands that provide the most information for identification: the fingertips, the palms, and the sides of the hands. This combination captures the most ridge detail and is the standard set investigators collect at a scene for comparison, often used with AFIS and manual analysis. Printing only the fingers misses the palm ridges, while ear prints and footprints are separate types of evidence and not part of the hand-print set used as major case prints.