ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 October 1975
Page Count: 12

The Examination of Disc and Pin Tumbler Locks for Tool Marks Made by Lock Picks
Plumtree, WG
Criminalist II, Criminalistics Laboratory, Calif.

(Received 5 September 1974; accepted 27 February 1975)

Abstract

There are many references on the techniques of lock picking (for example, Refs 1 and 2) and on the subject of tool mark examination (Ref 3, for example), yet there are only a few articles published on the tool marks made by lock picks [4–6]. These articles indicate that certain methods of picking locks can be detected. No in-depth study has been published on the types of marks left by different picks, nor to what extent tumbler composition plays in detecting pick marks. It is the purpose of this study to indicate what can be learned from pick marks on cylinder locks. This paper will attempt, through use of photographs, to demonstrate the tool marks often left on pin and disc tumbler locks by various lock picks in use today.

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Paper ID: JFS10317J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS10317J
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