Shoeprints
History
• Earliest use of shoe prints was in 1786 in
Scotland
– Used to discover the murderer of a young girl
• Footprints were found leaving her cottage
• An officer took a rough cast – compared the cast
against boots of individuals at a funeral
Footprints
• Bottom of feet and toes have prints just
like on your fingers
– Can be used to link you to a crime scene (if
barefoot)
– Footprint database has been created
• FYI – Air Force takes each soldiers
footprint – more likely to be found at a
crash site
Parts of the foot
• Ball - Portion of the outsole beneath the
fleshy part of the foot just back of the toes
• Heel - The rear-most region of the outsole,
sometimes raised and sometimes a
separately constructed component
• Arch - The portion of the outsole beneath
the arched bony framework of the foot
extending from the heel forward to the
toes
Barefoot Morphology
• Based on the belief that individuals have
unique patterns to the weight-bearing part
of the foot
– No two people have the same foot shape
Basic Foot Types
1. Normal – normal arch – imprint shows a
flare but heel and forefoot are connected
by a wide band
2. Flat – low arch – leaves a nearly
complete imprint
3. High – high arch – very narrow band
connecting forefoot and heel
Shoe Parts
• Upper  holds foot securely in place
• Midsole  cushion that cradles the foot
• Outsole  bottom of the shoe (protection
and traction)
Class Characteristics
• Characteristics that repeat during the
manufacturing process and are shared by
one or more shoes. These include: size,
design/pattern and mold characteristics.
• Class characteristics reduce the number of
shoes from every shoe in the world to a
group of similar shoes
Individual Characteristics
• Unique, accidental, random damage on
the outsole that is the result of its use and
wear.
• These nicks and scratches are in the
outsole accidentally and in a completely
random shape, orientation and position.
– Two types:
Damage characteristics
Temporary characteristics
Damage Characteristics
• Characteristics associated with random
cuts, gouges, etc. made to the outsole
during the wearing or before molding
– Ex: molding inconsistencies, cutting problems,
bubbles found in the mold
Temporary Characteristics
• Marks that result from foreign debris or
substances becoming attached to the
outsole
– Ex: rocks, gum, tape
Wear
• The continual changing of class
characteristics and certain accidental
characteristics, resulting in individual
features
• Wear patterns  patterns acquired in or
on an object as a result of normal usage
– Determined by  weight, gait, how they use
and wear shoes
Shoeprint Comparison
• Examination and comparison of a
shoeprint is made up of 3 critical parts:
– Physical characteristics of the outsoles
– Manufacturing techniques of the known shoe
– Wearing of the shoe
To Make It Valid…
• There is no established minimum number
of characteristics that must match to prove
a relationship
• Positive ID is based on:
Level of expertise of examiner
Quality and clarity of characteristics
Uniqueness and significance of the
characteristics
Shoeprint Evidence
• When collected and preserved properly,
footwear can provide:
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Type
Make
Description
Approximate size
The number of suspects
The path through and away from the crime scene
The involvement of the evidence
The events that occurred during the crime
What Can Be Told…
• Theoretically, a footprint or set of footprints
can tell you…
– Relative height of the individual
• Shoe size
• Stride length
– Speed at which person was walking/running
– Individual characteristics – limp, cane,…
SICAR
• Shoeprint Image Capture and Retrieval –
shoeprint database