Basics of Forensic Science: Track Marks (Foot, Shoe, Tire) Basics

UGC-NET Forensic Science Unit VIII drill on track mark evidence: the identification, documentation, and recovery of footmarks, shoe prints, and tire impressions at a crime scene. The mock covers the distinction between 2D surface marks (dust prints, dry-residue shoe prints) and 3D impressed marks (depressions in soil, mud, or snow), casting media including dental stone (the current preferred medium), Mikrosil silicone rubber, and plaster of Paris (older method), and photographic protocols using oblique (raking) light, the ABFO No. 2 scale, a camera-on-tripod with the lens axis perpendicular to the print plane. Class versus individual characteristics of footwear and tire evidence are examined alongside SWGTREAD guidelines used in forensic laboratories including the CFSL Chandigarh footwear and tire impression section.

The mock also tests footprint anatomy (heel, arch, ball, toes and their medico-legal relevance), the difference between barefoot and shod track analysis, basic tire tread pattern classifications (highway ribbed, all-season, off-road knobby), and wear patterns as accidentally acquired individual characteristics. Special recovery techniques for snow impressions, Snow Print Wax and sulphur cement casting, and electrostatic dust lifting (EDLIR/ESDA) for latent 2D shoe prints on hard floors are included. Questions are pitched at the definitional and procedural level calibrated for first-pass UGC-NET Forensic Science Paper II preparation and NFSU MSc entrance revision, referencing Saferstein Criminalistics 12th ed., Bodziak's Footwear Impression Evidence (2nd ed.), and SWGTREAD documentation.

Topics covered:

• Foot mark vs shoe print vs tire impression: type distinctions
• 2D (dry surface) vs 3D (impressed) track marks and recovery methods
• Casting media: dental stone, Mikrosil silicone, plaster of Paris
• Photographic protocol: oblique light, ABFO No. 2 scale, perpendicular axis
• Class vs individual characteristics per SWGTREAD guidelines
• Footprint anatomy and barefoot versus shod identification
• Tire tread classifications and wear patterns
• Snow Print Wax, sulphur casting, and electrostatic dust lifting (EDLIR)

Allow 30 minutes.