Almost in every criminal investigation, it is necessary to determine and prove that a particular person or a number of persons may or may not have been present at the scene of a crime. For this reason, the collection, preservation and analysis of physical evidence have become more frequent in the law enforcement community. Since criminals must enter and exit the crime scene areas, it should therefore be reasonably assumed that they may leave traces of their footwear. Criminals have become smarter and wiser by beginning to frequently wear protection over their hands to avoid leaving fingerprints and masks over their faces to avoid eyewitness identification. However, they are rarely aware of, or make little attempt to conceal footwear. During an everyday routine it is normal to see an individual wearing gloves, but it is not normal to see individuals wearing protection over their shoes. Unfortunately, when a crime scene is improperly secured or is disorganized, the search of the scene often results in this type of impression evidence being overlooked or destroyed. But when this type of physical evidence is properly collected and preserved by the crime scene investigator, followed up by a detailed examination and analysis creating necessary database through appropriate image processing implementations, it can become a very important part in proving or disproving whether a suspect was at the crime scene.
