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| Vol. 18, No. 8 | Oct. 22, 1998 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 8 | Oct. 22, 1998 |
Charles Wilson (left) and Vincent Shipman with 'Suspect ID' technology
"Suspect ID/Crime Lab," as it is officially termed, is a computer-generated program that offers both investigating officers and victims of violent crime an opportunity to create a composite image of the perpetrator(s) and help bring them to justice.
"When a person has been the victim of a crime, that person usually has an image of the perpetrator in his or her mind," Charles J. Wilson, Public Safety, said. "With Crime Lab, the victim can come in and sit alongside the investigator and view each feature of the composite as it appears on screen."
The software that makes this program possible is installed on a laptop computer designed specifically for this purpose, and this versatility means that Crime Lab can be used in a police station or in an alternate location, such as a hospital room or the victim's home.
The program offers a wide variety of options, starting with several basic facial profiles that take into account such factors as the age, race and size of the suspect.
Once this basic image has been established, Crime Lab begins to finetune the composite by trying to match the suspect's individual distinctive facial features. The program allows the operator, with input from the victim, to add distinguishing features such as hair color, style and type, and it also can enlarge or reduce the size of such areas as the neck, forehead or chin, to render a more detailed portrait of the suspect.
There are more than 40 additional functions that help profile the shape and color of the eyes, how deep they are set and what type of eyelids the suspect may have. The same attention is given to other facial areas, including the nostrils, lips and chin, along with additional identifying marks like freckles, tattoos and scars.
Once the sketch is completed, the computer can copy the finished composite onto a disc. The image also can also downloaded and sent to other police agencies and the news media.
Suspect ID/Crime Lab is seen as a huge improvement over the old type of laminate profile known to police agencies as "Potato-Head Willie."
"I think it is the technology of the future for solving crimes." Wilson said. "In this area it is far superior to any other technology that we have seen."
The composites rendered by the program also have been well received by the victims who have worked with the police.
"The victims that we have worked with were very pleased with what we were able to do," Wilson said. "They thought that our representations of the suspects were very accurate."
Currently, Public Safety is the only police agency in the local area with this technology, and UD staff have assisted investigations being conducted by other law enforcement agencies such as the Newark and Wilmington police departments.
"That's why the other police agencies like the Wilmington Police Department keep coming back to us," Wilson said. "If it was not a good program, they wouldn't be back."
The Department of Public Safety will be making a demonstration of the Crime Lab program for the Civilian Police Academy of the city of Newark Police.
Vincent Shipman, who works with Wilson in using the Suspect ID/Crime Lab program, also had high marks for this new technology.
"I think it is a very effective criminal investigation tool," Shipman said. "It's great that we can use it to assist other police agencies."
-Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Jack Buxbaum
