British footprint database to help catch criminals
The Footwear Intelligence Tool, thought to be the first of its kind in the world, will be similar to the database of genetic samples Britain created in 1995, which has millions of DNA profiles.
“Footwear marks at the scene are the second biggest evidence type behind blood and DNA,” said Dr Romelle Piercy, of the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in London. Like fingerprints, hair, blood or fibres, footprints are left at many crime scenes — on carpets or bodies as well as in earth or mud — and are often highly distinctive.
