In many criminal acts, there is a high likelihood of the victim, the suspect, or both leaving microscopic fiber evidence. It is occasioned by the physical contact that many cases involve. There are four major types of cases that are likely to leave fiber evidence. They are Rape, burglary, assault, and homicide, and hit and run. In all the four cases, the level of physical contact varies. However, they present specific characteristics that make the location of the fiber easy to identify. Though useful, the validity of the fiber as evidence heavy depends on the processes of collection, preservation, and identification. Failure to observe the required set procedures is likely to contaminate the evidence or even erase the evidence altogether (Lee & Pagliaro, 2013) . This excerpt discusses the process of collection, preservation, and identification of items that would be used as fiber evidence.
The placement of the fiber requires different collection techniques. The collection process involves either detaching the fiber from the surface using a clean pair of tweezers, comp or scraper or collecting it with the surface. In cases where the fiber is visible and loosely attached to the surface the evidence should be removed from the surface after diagramming and noting the location of each fiber. However, when the fiber is firmly attached to large objects that cannot be packaged and transported to the lab, they should also be carefully removed too. Other cases of removing the fiber from the surface include fingernail scarping and fiber lodged in the hair (Bertino, 2015) . On the other hand, when the fiber is firmly attached to the surface or mixed with other fiber it should be collected with the surface. Cases, where the fiber is collected on the surface, include the collection of clothing's that contain fibers as noted by Spencer, (1994) .
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The preservation of the fiber involves its storage in an environment that retains its state before analysis. All fiber evidence requires a dry and airtight environment to preserve its integrity. As a result, wet fiber should be air dried before storage. Other preservation requirements include the use of a proportionate container to package the fiber and proper labeling of the container using the case number, location it was found, date of collection, and evidence number. The preservation containers used include glass veil, small pillboxes, envelops, and tightly sealed containers. Evidence that is collected with the surface such as clothing should be preserved on the surface (Bertino, 2015) .
The identification process involves three steps; classification, identification of characteristics, and probable origin. Fiber has four classes; vegetable, animal, synthetic and mineral. The classification is done after a laboratory examination. The vegetable fiber comprises of plant fiber such as cotton and linen. Animal fiber, on the other hand, comprise of fiber that originates from animals such as silk and hair. Synthetic fiber is composed of all the fiber that is manmade such as nylon while the mineral fiber includes mineral such as asbestos. After classification, it is determined whether the said fiber shares the same characteristics with a set standard. The characteristics include, color and microscopic details. Finally, a determination is made on the probable origin of the fiber about a set standard (Bertino, 2015) .
In summary, most criminal activity that involves physical contact produce fiber evidence. The evidence can either be found on the victim, the suspect or both. Its collection depends on the location of the fiber. As such, it can either be collected with the surface or detached from the surface. The collected evidence should be preserved in prescribed airtight containers to avoid contamination before being presented to the laboratory for analysis. Its identification is made after the laboratory analysis that reveals its classification, characteristics and possible origin.
References
Bertino, A. J. (2015). Forensic science: Fundamentals and investigations . Place of publication not identified: Cengage Learning.
Lee, H., & Pagliaro, E. (2013). Forensic Evidence and Crime Scene Investigation. Journal Of Forensic Investigation , 01 (02). doi: 10.13188/2330-0396.1000004
Spencer, R. (1994). Significant Fiber Evidence Recovered from the Clothing of a Homicide Victim After Exposure to the Elements for Twenty-Nine Days. Journal Of Forensic Sciences , 39 (3), 13664J. doi: 10.1520/jfs13664j
