NCJ Number
203369
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 30 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 84,86,89
Date Published
November 2003
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes the use of Adobe Photoshop in aiding police officers in the creation of identification photographs.
Abstract
Adobe Photoshop is a software program primarily designed to enhance photographs, and this software can help police officers create line-up photographs, make fingerprint identifications, record ink differences in questioned document examinations, and prepare charts and diagrams for court-room presentations. Noting that a shortcoming of traditional photo line-up creation is that only one investigator has access to a photograph at a time, the article describes that the scanning of line-up photos into Adobe Photoshop software allows more than one investigator to interview witnesses and victims at the same time. Adobe Photoshop can also assist in fingerprint comparisons by allowing a suspect’s fingerprints and a latent fingerprint to be placed on a computer screen side-by-side. Adobe Photoshop can assist document examiners in creating court charts to document their findings and present those findings to a jury. Adobe Photoshop is a useful tool in creating crime scene diagrams and documenting crime and accident scenes, and is a cost effective way in which police departments can increase their capabilities without having to purchase the programs or pieces of equipment that are not within the reach of their budgets.