NCJ Number
94237
Date Published
1983
Length
175 pages
Annotation
The role and skills of the police sketch artist are the topic of this book. The author's extensive personal experience presents an aspect of first-hand information in addition to the technical data offered.
Abstract
The sketch artist will often need to work from unidentifiable human skeletal remains, the memories of eyewitnesses, and other sources. Emphasis is on the proper handling and questioning of eyewitnesses. Children require a different form of questioning in order to elicit details. It is important to achieve a photographic-style composite sketch. Freehand drawing has many advantages over the use of composite systems and kits. Artists can alter photographs to depict more recent appearances of wanted and missing persons and to counteract steps the criminal may take to alter his appearance. The courtroom provides the artist with another opportunity, while he or she may, in turn, provide the counsel with data for leading questions. There are methods for scrutinizing a photograph so as to determine what other features may look like. A knowledge of anatomy and an understanding of the information in the medical examiner's report may make the difference between accuracy and guessing. Particular emphasis is on bone structure as the determinant of musculature. 'Aging' techniques are extremely useful in trying to sketch lost children. Hypnotists and polygraphs are among the unusual sources for information that the artist could find useful. Diagrams, examples, sketches, and copies of articles are included.