Note
Authors affiliated with: Forensic Identification Research Services, RCMP Ottawa; Forensic Identification Services, RCMP Winnipeg; Forensic Identification Services, RCMP Moncton.
"January 2002."
Includes executive summary in French.
Summary
The “Coverup” is an eight sided clear plastic cover 11 ½" by 3 1/4" high which can be used by the initial officer on the scene to cover evidence (such as tire prints, footwear prints, blood, fibres, etc.) in order to prevent destruction or contamination. It can be secured in place by any of three methods: adhesive foam pads, nails placed through nail holes on its edge, or through use of four jagged slots along the edge which can be fastened to vegetation, etc. Several of these covers were distributed across Canada and their use at crime scenes evaluated by Forensic Identification and general duty police officers. In a separate experiment, the use of the “Coverup” as a portable cyanoacrylate (CA) fuming container was tested. The “Coverup” was found to be a useful means of protecting evidence at crime scenes, especially in wet or windy conditions. They were found to fasten well to smooth surfaces where they provided a clean standardized cover for small areas of interest or small pieces of evidence. Users felt that they were too small to adequately cover larger evidence such as many footwear and tire track impressions.