Locard Quotes & Sayings

Locard's Exchange Principle and it says "every contact between a perpetrator and a crime scene leaves a trace. — Terry Hayes

I know Edmond Locard's Principle, the central theory of modern forensic crime-scene investigation: something is always left behind. — C.J. Box

THE LOCARD EXCHANGE PRINCIPLE 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 fibers 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. - Edmund Locard — D.P. Lyle

Edmond Locard ordered all the local organ grinders and their simian employees brought to his laboratory. A number of the monkeys, perhaps concerned about an infringement of their civil rights, resisted fingerprinting and had to be restrained. The organ grinders were more cooperative. When the burglarizing beast had been identified, his companion's rooms were searched and there the missing items were found. — E.J. Wagner