SEMESTER 20224

OCTOBER 2022 - FEBRUARY 2023

FRS531: PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

EXPERIMENT 4: SHOEPRINT CASTING

NAME: NUR AQILAH BINTI MOHD AZLI

STUDENT ID: 2021609214

GROUP: AS2533A1
LECTURER’S NAME: DR KAVITHA (LAB PRACTICAL)

SIR EZLAN BIN ELIAS (MARKING)

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 15 JANUARY 2023
OBJECTIVE(S)

To cast a shoe impression made on soft material such as soil which is a standard method for
lifting and collecting impression evidence.

INTRODUCTION

Shoe or footwear impression is another physical evidence that would be commonly found in a
crime scene especially outdoor crime scene or any other surfaces in contact with the footwear. It
could be a bloody shoe print on a carpet or simply shoe print made on a soft surface such as soil.
It is important to preserve the impressions once they were to be found since they could be
damaged due to human error or even the environmental factor such as rain or wind. Once the
preservation to be done, the process of casting should be taken in place for further analysis.

In this experiment, we will be conducting the process of casting a shoe impression on a soft
surface such as soil. The shoe print will be first made by pressing or stamping firmly the shoe
sole where the sole print shall be visible enough to be cast on a flattened soft soil. The print will
be photographed first with and without scales in order to preserve the print before casting it with
a specific powder for casting named Plaster of Paris or dental stone. The casted shoe print
impression will then be compared with the suspect’s real shoe sole picture to analyze the
similarity.

PROCEDURE

Part A

1. A place with soil surface was chosen and the surface tamped lightly as well as leveled
with a ruler.
2. The selected footwear was placed onto the soil and pushed down to make an impression
approximately ½ inch deep.
3. The shoe was carefully lifted out without knocking any loosened pieces of soil into the
impression.
4. The can of hairspray was held about 8 inches from the soil and an even layer was applied
to the impression using a sweeping motion.
5. The layer of hairspray applied on the impression was allowed to be dried for 10 minutes.
6. ½ of the 5-pound bag of Plaster of Paris was added into a large mixing bowl and enough
water was added into the bowl to produce a pancake batter-like consistency without any
lumps.
7. The plaster was poured into the impression up until at least ½ inch thickness was reached
and a paint stirrer was used to even out the plaster stream.
8. The wet plaster was stored to dry completely overnight.

Part B

1. The cast was collected, and any loose soil was rinsed from it under the tap without being
scrubbed or picked anything off and paper towels were used to pat dry the cast.
2. The shoe used to make the cast was obtained and organized on the bench by placing the
cast and the shoe side by side.
 3. The dimensions of the cast as well as the exemplar were measured in centimeters and
then recorded.
4. Both the cast and the exemplar were compared by their lengths, widths, sole patterns, and
unique features.

DATA AND RESULTS

Shoe print impression on soil with scale

Casted shoe print impression with scale
Place your two shoeprint photos in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Identify and circle the similarities in Figure
2 (Hints: find as many as possible between the two sets of footprints). There are always
individual characteristics on a footprint. They may wear patterns and specific damage which are
formed depending on the walking styles, walking habits, and natures of ground surfaces. These
characteristics may be very small, but they can help individualize an impression of a specific
shoe.

1) Shoe size: 5 @ 6

2) Shoe type: Sport shoe

3) Shoe brand: Scholl

4) Damages: No obvious damage

5) Wear pattern: Normal wear, especially on the outer edge of the heel and inner middle part
of the sole

6) Other trace material: Dust

 Figure 1 (Standard sample) Figure 2 (Evidence)

QUESTIONS

1. Shoeprint is considered class or individual evidence? Why?

= Shoeprint is considered as class evidence when it works for comparison in the aspects of
source of manufacturer, brands, type of shoe and etc., but it can be categorized as
individual evidence if it is to compare for the sole comparison that is their wear pattern,
damages or other trace materials left on the sole.
2. Why do we cast impression evidence?
= To allow us recover and having an identical copy in the form of three-dimensional of the
impressions of the evidence such as tire marks or shoe prints for further analysis which
help to correlate the suspect and a crime scene.
3. What is the purpose of using hairspray in this experiment?
= To fix or hold the soil particles together in order to prevent the impression from being
distort during the casting process.
REFERENCES
1. Fuller, J. (2008, July 14). Preserving Impression Evidence -- Plaster Casts |

HowStuffWorks. Science | HowStuffWorks. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from

https://science.howstuffworks.com/impression-evidence2.htm

2. Mooney, C. (2013). Forensics: Uncover the Science and Technology of Crime Scene

Investigation. Nomad Press.

https://books.google.com.my/books?id=Nf2rDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA71&lpg=PA71

&dq=why+hairspray+for+casting+shoe+print+impression&source=bl&ots=ekyjQ

T6Cx0&sig=ACfU3U1gQwHT1HhFxMLmNeGIdIj4lLg_gA&hl=en&sa=X&ved

=2ahUKEwilqLuvv8f8AhVNSmwGHWFPDeAQ6AF6BAhTEAM#v=onepage&

q&f=

3. Saferstein, R. (2014). Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science. Pearson.