Evaluation and the importance of tire treads from the judicial perspective in our country

That the crime investigations are carried out according to rules respectful to human rights is one of the principals of democratic state of law.Today, the ideal crime investigations accepted by everyone are the crimes that are based on physical evidence of crime rather than on suspect or culprit. The crime investigations carried out considering this principal not only enable the real criminal to be caught but also contribute a lot to acquiting innocent people who sustain an injury because of being under suspicion.In today?s societies, vehicles and cars have been one of the most important needs of life. For this reason, criminals usually use cars when going in to and leaving crime scene, too. In many convenient situations, these cars leave one or more tire treads on the ground they pass. The information which is obtained as a result of collecting and investigating tire treads left by using scientific and technical methods sheds light on the process of investigation and investigators. It is understood, however, that the security units in charge of investigation the crime scene and evaluating the evidences are lacking in this type of evidence ,and that tire treads are not taken into consideration in most crime scenes. It is said that the reasons for this situation are lack of knowledge on the importance of tire treads, lack of experienced personnel, and equipment.In this thesis study; the stages of determining and obtaining tire treads in the crime scene, and their examining in laboratory atmosphere were tried to put into practice by investigating how to carry out them through scientific and technical methods.In the thesis, between 2006 and 2010, 39 tire tread evidence, which were collected from the cities under the responsibility of Adana Criminal Police Laboratory Department, brought to Adana Criminal Police Laboratory Trace Evidence Department, which is a branch of Adana Criminal Police Laboratory Department. All the tire tread evidence collected was included in our field of study. Of the 39 tire tread evidences which were analysed, %18 were matched with suspicious tires; %31 were not matched with any tires, and %36 were found to have similarities regarding classical features, but at the same time, it was impossible to match them with each other characteristically, and %15 were found not to have any useful evidence to identify.It is said that one of the reasons why trials periods are extended in the law courts and why they go into an unending process is that the evidence supposed to have been left in the crime scenes cannot be found. The fundamental duty of the police should be contributing to justice by obtaining enough evidence without giving an opportunity to frequently heard sayings such as acquittal of his or hers because of lack of evidence, release for his or her and to the next trial.Key Words: Two and Three Dimensional Tire Tread Evidence, Casting, Photographing, Lifting, Crime Scene