herrwalther
Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2013
- Messages
- 8,136
Sure taking the fingerprint would be highly unlikely to solve this crime, but having it on file would tie them to this crime and give evidence that they are a serial offender that needs real jail time, when eventually caught. That these offenders are not able to be linked to other crimes because of sloth during routine investigations is what makes crime actually pay.
Processing fingerprints is a time consuming process that many departments either a) do not have the capability to do or b) don't want to pay for. Lifting a single print and then isolating it from other casual prints doesn't take 5 minutes like it does on CSI. I have done thousands of digital and inked fingerprint markings. The number of times they have been used is exactly zero. They just sit in a filing cabinet or database and only get pulled when a case is looking weak.