Locard’s Principle of exchange:

- In forensic science, Locard's exchange principle holds that the

perpetrator of a crime will bring something into the crime scene and

leave with something from it, and that both can be used as forensic

evidence.

- Dr. Edmond Locard (1877–1966) was a pioneer in forensic science

who became known as the Sherlock Holmes of France.

- He formulated the basic principle of forensic science as: "Every

contact leaves a trace". Paul L. Kirk expressed the principle as follows:

"Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even

unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his

fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibres from his clothes,

the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches,

the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear

mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is

not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent

because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence

cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent.

Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish

its value."

- Fragmentary or trace evidence is any type of material left at (or taken

from) a crime scene, or the result of contact between two surfaces,

 such as shoes and the floor covering or soil, or fibres from where

someone sat on an upholstered chair.

- When a crime is committed, fragmentary (or trace) evidence needs to

be collected from the scene. A team of specialised police technicians

goes to the scene of the crime and seals it off.

- They record video and take photographs of the crime scene, victim/s

(if there are any) and items of evidence. If necessary, they undertake

ballistics examinations.

- They check for foot, shoe, and tire mark impressions, plus hair as well

as examine any vehicles and check for fingerprints – whole or partial.

- In the early 20th century, Dr. Edmond Locard, a forensic science

pioneer in France, formulated the theory which states, “Every contact

leaves a trace”. This became known as Locard’s exchange principle

and is the basis for all forensic science as we know it today.

- Linking People, Places and Things

- Trace evidence can be used to link people or objects to places, other

people or other objects, and often serves as a starting point, or lead,

for a particular line of investigation. Trace evidence helps to put

together pieces of the investigative puzzle—from which direction did

the perpetrator arrive? How close was the victim to the window when

the bullet shattered the glass? Were stolen goods transported in a

particular vehicle? The answers to these questions can significantly

 impact the outcome of a trial and these answers may be found via

careful examination of tiny bits of evidence.

- Important developments in trace evidence came alongside advances in

microscopy, chemical analysis, and for evidence comparison purposes,

database technology.

_____________________
Edmond Locard (1877–1966) studied law at the Institute of Legal Medicine

and worked subsequently as an assistant to the forensic pioneer Alexandre

Lacassagne prior to directing the forensic laboratory in Lyon, France.

Locard's techniques proved useful to the French Secret Service during World

War I (1914–1918), when Locard was able to determine where soldiers and

prisoners had died by examining the stains on their uniforms.

Like Hans Gross and Alphonse Bertillon before him, Locard advocated the

application of scientific methods and logic to criminal investigation

and identification . Locard's work formed the basis for what is widely

regarded as a cornerstone of the forensic sciences, Locard's Exchange

Principle, which states that with contact between two items, there will be an

exchange. It was Locard's assertion that when any person comes into

contact with an object or another person, a cross-transfer of physical

evidence occurs. By recognizing, documenting, and examining the nature

and extent of this evidentiary exchange, Locard observed that criminals

could be associated with particular locations, items of evidence , and

victims. The detection of the exchanged materials is interpreted to mean

that the two objects were in contact. This is the cause and effect principle

reversed; the effect is observed and the cause is concluded.

Crime reconstruction involves examining the available physical evidence,

those materials left at or removed from the scene, victim, or offender, for

example hairs, fibers , and soil, as well as fingerprints, footprints, genetic

markers (DNA ), or handwriting. These forensically established contacts are

then considered in light of available and reliable witness, the victim, and a

suspect's statements. From this, theories regarding the circumstances of the

crime can be generated and falsified by logically applying the information of

the established facts of the case.

Locard's publications make no mention of an "exchange principle," although

he did make the observation "Il est impossible au malfaiteur d'agir avec

l'intensité que suppose l'action criminelle sans laisser des traces de son

passage." (It is impossible for a criminal to act, especially considering the

intensity of a crime, without leaving traces of this presence.). The term

"principle of exchange" first appears in Police and Crime-Detection, in 1940,

and was adapted from Locard's observations.