Police Identification Method | Essay
Added on 2022-09-09
13 Pages3023 Words23 Views
|
|
|
Running head: IDENTIFICATION METHOD
IDENTIFICATION METHOD
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note
IDENTIFICATION METHOD
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note
DiscussionDiscussion1
Introduction
In the criminal justice system, police play a vital role in finding out the criminals but the
system which helps the police to find out a criminal is known as forensic. In the criminal justice
system, a vital role has been played by this department. Many researchers, criminologists are of
the view that criminals will never be prosecuted if forensic science is not applied unless the
eyewitness is present. The physical evidence, such as fingerprints, bloodstains, saliva, and hair
obtained from the crime scene is examined by forensic scientists to identify suspects. Forensic
science involves gathering, storing and evaluating facts appropriate for prosecuting a suspect at
the trial before a court of law (Champod et al., 2017). For this reason, DNA testing and a variety
of other forensic facts in courts around the world are commonly recognized. After observing the
efficiency of forensic, this system has been recognized almost all the countries all over the
world. This paper, mainly, focuses on the discussion of the matter involving William and Will
West concerning fingerprint. While discussing the same it also sheds light on the Bertillon age
identification method.
Discussion
For several years, fingerprints have been used to identify individuals positively. This is a
short overview of fingerprint science:
In 1880, a Scottish doctor, namely Dr Henry Faulds in his Article established fingerprints
as the method of identifying an individual and the use of printer ink as a way of
collecting these fingerprints (Hu, 2017);
Introduction
In the criminal justice system, police play a vital role in finding out the criminals but the
system which helps the police to find out a criminal is known as forensic. In the criminal justice
system, a vital role has been played by this department. Many researchers, criminologists are of
the view that criminals will never be prosecuted if forensic science is not applied unless the
eyewitness is present. The physical evidence, such as fingerprints, bloodstains, saliva, and hair
obtained from the crime scene is examined by forensic scientists to identify suspects. Forensic
science involves gathering, storing and evaluating facts appropriate for prosecuting a suspect at
the trial before a court of law (Champod et al., 2017). For this reason, DNA testing and a variety
of other forensic facts in courts around the world are commonly recognized. After observing the
efficiency of forensic, this system has been recognized almost all the countries all over the
world. This paper, mainly, focuses on the discussion of the matter involving William and Will
West concerning fingerprint. While discussing the same it also sheds light on the Bertillon age
identification method.
Discussion
For several years, fingerprints have been used to identify individuals positively. This is a
short overview of fingerprint science:
In 1880, a Scottish doctor, namely Dr Henry Faulds in his Article established fingerprints
as the method of identifying an individual and the use of printer ink as a way of
collecting these fingerprints (Hu, 2017);
DiscussionDiscussion2
In 1882, the French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon created a body measurement
system to create a method of identifying people. Bertillon’s method consisted of
measuring and recording body parts of a human on a card. The Bertillon system has
recognized for this method of classification and recognition of individuals. Since 1887,
comprehensive report cards for the prisoners were introduced in the United States prison
areas. It was a criminal mug shot, with a thorough description of the face of the offender
attached (Dapping, 2016);
In 1891, an Argentine police officer, Juan Vucetich, introduced the fingerprint of
offenders;
In 1892, a British anthropologist in his book related to fingerprint he recognized the
uniqueness and exclusivity of fingerprints. Galton officially defined the exclusive
features of fingerprints as minutiae, but often they are still called ‘Galton's Details’
(Graybill, 2019);
In 1901, this fingerprint classification method was introduced first in England and
gradually spread across the world;
In 1903, William West and Will West’s case of Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas
has changed how prisoners were treated and categorized.
A man named Will West joined the prison system in Leavenworth in 1903 and, like many
other inmates, was ‘held’ in jail. The picture of his face has been captured and his measurements
in Bertillion have been made. At the end of the proceeding, it was discovered that another
prisoner named William West, who was already imprisoned in Leavenworth, had the same name,
measurements in Bertillion, which bore a remarkable similarity with Will West. The event
brought into question the dependability of Bertillon measurements and determined that a more
In 1882, the French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon created a body measurement
system to create a method of identifying people. Bertillon’s method consisted of
measuring and recording body parts of a human on a card. The Bertillon system has
recognized for this method of classification and recognition of individuals. Since 1887,
comprehensive report cards for the prisoners were introduced in the United States prison
areas. It was a criminal mug shot, with a thorough description of the face of the offender
attached (Dapping, 2016);
In 1891, an Argentine police officer, Juan Vucetich, introduced the fingerprint of
offenders;
In 1892, a British anthropologist in his book related to fingerprint he recognized the
uniqueness and exclusivity of fingerprints. Galton officially defined the exclusive
features of fingerprints as minutiae, but often they are still called ‘Galton's Details’
(Graybill, 2019);
In 1901, this fingerprint classification method was introduced first in England and
gradually spread across the world;
In 1903, William West and Will West’s case of Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas
has changed how prisoners were treated and categorized.
A man named Will West joined the prison system in Leavenworth in 1903 and, like many
other inmates, was ‘held’ in jail. The picture of his face has been captured and his measurements
in Bertillion have been made. At the end of the proceeding, it was discovered that another
prisoner named William West, who was already imprisoned in Leavenworth, had the same name,
measurements in Bertillion, which bore a remarkable similarity with Will West. The event
brought into question the dependability of Bertillon measurements and determined that a more
DiscussionDiscussion3
optimistic identification method was required. With the end of the Bertillon Scheme, the use of
fingerprints in the identification and classification of people started to increase. Many prison
facilities started using fingerprints as the main identification method after 1903.
Thus within the history of fingerprinting, there is a renowned history regarding an
incident that leads to the decline of the application of the anthropometric assessment in support
of fingerprinting (Bullot, 2015). The man who was detained in the year 1903 and was
transported to Leavenworth jail. It was alleged by that man that his name was Will West, and he
had no previous record of arrest. The personnel at the prison took Bertillon's assessment of Well
West and also photograph to provide record check in prison. It was revealed from the record that
another man whose name was William West with identical anthropometric measurements as well
as striking likeness to the new prisoners who were already in prison (Abraham, 2017). After a
comparison of records of two men, the prison workers fail to tell that man apart. Then after
taking and contrasting the fingerprint of both the inmates, it was apparent that the fingerprinting
process of identification was able to differentiate between two men.
Therefore the story of William and West is sensationalized and rejects prison record data
that is exposed by future scholars representing that both of them match with the same members
of the family, and thus they are connected probably. The exact connection between the two is
still not known. The fact was that both two West men were and rare; many individuals have an
identical anthropometric assessment (McNabb, 2017). It was normally approved that similar
twins had similar anthropometric measurements; however, they had different fingerprints. The
optimistic identification method was required. With the end of the Bertillon Scheme, the use of
fingerprints in the identification and classification of people started to increase. Many prison
facilities started using fingerprints as the main identification method after 1903.
Thus within the history of fingerprinting, there is a renowned history regarding an
incident that leads to the decline of the application of the anthropometric assessment in support
of fingerprinting (Bullot, 2015). The man who was detained in the year 1903 and was
transported to Leavenworth jail. It was alleged by that man that his name was Will West, and he
had no previous record of arrest. The personnel at the prison took Bertillon's assessment of Well
West and also photograph to provide record check in prison. It was revealed from the record that
another man whose name was William West with identical anthropometric measurements as well
as striking likeness to the new prisoners who were already in prison (Abraham, 2017). After a
comparison of records of two men, the prison workers fail to tell that man apart. Then after
taking and contrasting the fingerprint of both the inmates, it was apparent that the fingerprinting
process of identification was able to differentiate between two men.
Therefore the story of William and West is sensationalized and rejects prison record data
that is exposed by future scholars representing that both of them match with the same members
of the family, and thus they are connected probably. The exact connection between the two is
still not known. The fact was that both two West men were and rare; many individuals have an
identical anthropometric assessment (McNabb, 2017). It was normally approved that similar
twins had similar anthropometric measurements; however, they had different fingerprints. The
End of preview
Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.