The bureau purchased two state-of-the-art fingerprint processing machines, each for about $12,500, and renovated and converted a storage room measuring about 12 feet by 12 feet into the new evidence processing area.
Police officials outlined details of the machines and demonstrated how they worked during a Tuesday afternoon news conference at the bureau's headquarters at Erie City Hall, 626 State St.
"This is leaps and bounds from where we were," Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny said of the technology upgrades.
With the Siebenbuerger Club donation, the bureau purchased a three-unit Safefume Automatic cyanoacrylate fuming chamber, and a Safedevelop heat and humidity DFO and ninhydrin fingerprint development fuming chamber.
Both machines were purchased from Air Science, of Fort Myers, Florida.
"Having the three-unit fuming chamber, we can process more evidence, we can have more detectives in that area processing, we have a better chance of getting prints now because of the control of the humidity, the heat, the fuming, and there is less chance of injuring the detectives with the super glue," Spizarny said.
The three-unit fuming chamber is used to collect fingerprints from handguns, rifles, knives, glass, burglary tools, bottles, CDs, cups, plastic and other items.
The Safefume Automatic cyanoacrylate fuming chamber provides a controlled environment for processing latent fingerprints on most non-porous surfaces while eliminating exposure to hazardous fumes.
The Safedevelop heat and humidity chamber is used to gather fingerprints from paper and cardboard items. This machine is designed to accelerate the processing of latent fingerprints on porous surfaces using DFO, ninhydrin and other development chemicals within a controlled environment for optimum effectiveness where moisture, temperature and time are critical factors.
"The bottom line is we have a better chance of obtaining prints, and when we obtain prints, we have a better chance of solving crimes," Spizarny said. "Locating those latent, hidden prints is going to help us solve crimes."
The new processing room, which measures about 12 feet by 12 feet, was formerly used as a dark room, and was converted to a storage room about 10 years ago, Spizarny said.
Erie police Lt. Chris Crawford, commander of the bureau's crime scene unit, explained and demonstrated how each machine works during the news conference.
For decades, a popular law enforcement process for detecting latent fingerprints involved using super glue to detect the hidden prints on evidence that dusting powder didn't always locate.
"The glue had to be heated and produced fumes," Spizarny said. "Detectives used an old glass fish tank to place evidence in, with the super glue, and wait for the process to happen. Detectives would then have to carefully remove the top and take care not to inhale the fumes. This was not the safest way for us to work, but it was our budget at the time."
Each chamber on the three-unit fuming chamber has a direct heat source, which heats the super glue to the right temperature, Spizarny said.
Additionally, the chamber can control the humidity it uses to produce the best conditions to recover fingerprints. The chamber has a charcoal filter, which cleans the fumes out of the chamber before a detective opens it, Spizarny said.
"This is a safe method that protects the detectives and helps locate the best evidence," Spizarny said. "We've already been using this new unit to obtain fingerprints on everything from guns, knives to safes and burglary tools."
Ninhydrin is a chemical applied to paper products to detect fingerprints.
"Heat, humidity and clean air are all concerns that need addressed," Spizarny said. "With the purchase of this heat and humidity chamber for ninhydrin processing, it was money well spent to help us obtain the best results for our investigations. The $25,000 for two state-of-the-art processing units and the related supplies needed has made our identification unit one of the best equipped in northwestern Pennsylvania."
©2019 the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
