NCJ Number
151998
Date Published
1990
Length
126 pages
Annotation
Written by a veteran police artist, this manual teaches police officers, private detectives, security chiefs, store owners, bank tellers, or anyone how to observe faces, commit them to memory, and describe their features to others, as well as how to elicit pertinent information about faces from others under stressful conditions.
Abstract
The author notes that most people, including police officers, do not describe faces accurately because they have not learned how to observe them. This book explains what to observe in analyzing a face and how to prioritize the important features. The reader will learn what facial features can be changed easily and cheaply; what can be changed only with time, effort, and expense; and what cannot be changed at all. The author, who has been a police artist since 1981, recounts the facial-identification aspects of many of the cases in which he has been involved. There are chapters on head shapes, racial and ethnic patterns, facial angles and features, the effects of aging and lifestyle on faces, hair styles and facial hair, the ability of glasses and headgear to disguise and distract, and common misleading disguises used by criminals and terrorists. A series of timed exercises help the reader test newly developed observation and memory skills. Readers also complete their own step-by-step sketch from a verbal description. A 21-item select bibliography