Toolmarks in forensic science, are the marks, imprints or scratches (usually very small) that tools like screwdrivers make in the process of committing a crime.
There are many aspects of forensic science that fascinate me. We are fortunate to have pretty good selection of Satellite TV in South Africa and we’re about to get more this year when more pay TV channels get into the market.
My favorites of course, are A&E’s Crime & Investigation Network, Hallmark and BBC Prime where I can watch programs like Cracker and Spooks and Wire in the Blood and Prime Suspect.
Toolmark Evidence at Many Crime Scenes
We also get most of the American hit programs like the CSI Trilogy. At the moment CSI New York and CSI Las Vegas are showing on different channels.
So, I was watching something gripping that involved a gory crime scene the other night and it struck me how often toolmark evidence features in crime scenes.
You usually see cops peering at the striations on a lock or car bumper or someone photographing toolmarks on a door frame that was jimmied open.
That's why I wrote the article about toolmarks and about indentations and scrapes and how important they are and why cops always seem to be photographing and measuring them at a crime scene.
Matching the Toolmark to the Particular Tool
Something that amazes me is when a fence or piece of wire is cut and the forensic scientists manage to match the toolmarks to the bolt cutters or the pliers that did it.
I know that the real world of crime scenes is not like it is on the TV and that the CSI Effect has had both a positive and negative impact on crime fighting, but crime and cop shows and reality shows about bad guys sure make for great entertainment.
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