NCJ Number
68498
Editor(s)
B HEFELE
Date Published
1979
Length
198 pages
Annotation
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MEASURES TO APPREHEND OFFENDERS AND TO RESCUE STOLEN OBJECTS PRECEDES A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GERMAN-LANGUAGE LITERATURE ON SEARCHES FROM 1908 TO 1979.
Abstract
MASSIVE POLICE SEARCHES FOR SUSPECTS CAN BE TRACED BACK AS FAR AS 1100 B.C., ALTHOUGH SUCH UNDERTAKINGS WERE FOREIGN TO GERMANIC LAW. LARGE-SCALE SEARCHES FOR CRIMINAL SUSPECTS DID NOT BECOME COMMON PRACTICE IN GERMANY UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. AT THIS TIME LISTS OF SUSPICIOUS PERSONS AND STOLEN ARTICLES ALSO BEGAN TO APPEAR ON A REGULAR BASIS. BY THE MIDDLE OF THE CENTURY MUG-SHOT COLLECTIONS HAD BEEN INTRODUCED, AND FINGERPRINTS WERE IN USE FOR IDENTIFICATION OF CRIMINALS BY 1900. IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, INNOVATIONS SUCH AS RADIO, WIRE-SERVICE PHOTOGRAPHS, TAPE RECORDERS, TELEVISION, NEWS SATELLITES, AND COMPUTERS HAVE FACILITATED DRAGNETS. IN FACT, THE NEED FOR COMPUTER PROTECTION LAWS TO PREVENT VIOLATIONS OF CITIZENS' RIGHTS IN THE HEAT OF MASS SEARCHES IS EMPHASIZED. THE BIBLIOGRAPHY, CONTAINING 595 ENTRIES, INCLUDES MONOGRAPHS, JOURNAL ARTICLES, AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON SEARCHES FOR PERSONS AND OBJECTS, SEARCH METHODS AND TYPES OF SEARCHES (E.G., GENERAL ALARMS, TELEVISION, TAX FORMS, BORDER SEARCHES, SEARCHES FOR TERRORISTS), AND ON SEARCH AGENCIES AND REFERENCE MATERIALS. ENTRIES ARE LISTED ALPHABETICALLY BY AUTHOR AND INDEXED ACCORDING TO SUBJECT. --IN GERMAN.