As with finger-prints, palm prints provide the investigator with a means of positive identification.
Palm prints are sometimes the only form of latent print evidence at a crime scene.
And they're particularly common in burglary cases. That's because the perpetrator must often place his palms on window sills, casements or the top of furniture while forcing entry as well as during the crime. Palm prints are developed, photographed and lifted in the same manner as finger-prints. As with fingerprints, identification of palm prints is based on comparison of friction ridges and flexure lines. The investigator compares the latent palm prints with those of a suspect in the same manner as fingerprints.