University police departments may be able to use sophisticated crime detection techniques by collaborating with the physical sciences department of the institution. One technique which is particularly useful to campus security is latent fingerprint development. Conventional procedures used by the latent print examine include dusting, iodine fuming, silver nitrate development, and ninhydrin treatment. Newer techniques, such as metal vacuum deposition and autoradiography, are usually not feasible because they require complex instrumentation and considerable technical expertise. In 1976, a method for developing latent prints by laser illumination using a CW argon-ion laser was discovered. Several treatments, when combined with laser illumination, can make latent prints amenable to development. Latent print fluorescence, dusting with fluorescent powders, staining with fluorescent dyes, and treatment with compounds such as fluorescamine can produce satisfactory prints. Because the laser method is new, only a few law enforcement agencies use it. Nevertheless, growing interest in the technique is evident, and an expanded role for lasers in forensic work is anticipated in the future. Lasers can be used in fiber analysis and document examination as well as in fingerprint development. Photographs and 19 references are provided.