DAVIS, Calif., Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A forensics expert at the University of California at Davis says he and colleagues are studying better ways to tie duct tape used in crimes to the perpetrators.
Fred Tullerners, director of the university's graduate program in forensic science, told The Sacramento Bee while he couldn't list all types of crimes that have involved duct tape, the range runs from robberies to sexual assaults.
His department received a $150,000 grant to simplify the procedures crime labs use to trace the tape back to the criminal, the newspaper reported Thursday..
There are time-consuming ways to determine where duct tape came from and who used it. They include tracing the specific tape's manufacturer, matching fiber patterns, determining composition of adhesive layers and matching tear patterns
The study will attempt to improve the certainty of matches.
Two of Tullerners' students are working on better ways to match tears and believe they are on track to improve matching techniques.
