Alphonse Bertillon and the Discovery of the Bertillonage System
Have you ever wondered who aided in the discovery of identifying the criminals of today? A French man by the name of Alphonse Bertillon who was born on April 24, 1853, is to be acknowledged for his great work. Bertillon was the son of a man named Lois Adolphe Bertillon who was a physician and statistician. Although Bertillon has greatly contributed his techniques to science, he faced some difficulties before his discoveries. Bertillon dropped out of school and because of this, his father sent him to Great Britain for a while and then returning home. After returning to France, he was inducted into the army until 1879. Following his retirement from service, he took a job as a clerk with the Paris Prefecture of Police. While working at this police
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He soon realized that the information that he was copying down was useless in specifically identifying the individuals and began to think of more efficient ways to identify them. In France at that time, there was concern about individuals who were repeat offenders; these criminals could serve longer sentences, but because of the identification methods at that time, it was difficult to identify them. Bertillon sought out a new method and called it bertillonage, this method used 11 body measurements along with descriptive information and photographs, now known as mug shots, stored on cards to identify criminals. However, the Bertillonage system had a major flaw, Bertillon made the assumption that every individual had a different body measurement. Because of this, he figured that the more measurements he took of a person, the less likely someone else would have those same dimensions. This system was used frequently but was soon booted out once fingerprinting became more predominant in the
The case of Joseph Vacher was as well-known, more deadly, and even compared to, the murders committed by “Jack the Ripper” so much so that Vacher even screamed that he was “Joseph the Ripper”. This murder, whose identity was unknown at the time, left a trail of terror where ever he went, his capture became a career making opportunity for the investigating magistrates. After Vacher was captured a new branch of criminal interrogation was used to try to incriminate him in the murders that it was believed he had done. The major breakthrough in criminology came in the form of the methods that lead to his capture and identification.
Philippe Petit changed numerous peoples’ thoughts about the Twin Towers when he performed his high wire walk between them in 1974. Before Philippe Petit walked the high wire between the Twin Towers in 1974, people weren’t certain how they felt about the construction of the World Trade Center. After Philippe performed, people began to warm up to the idea of the towers. Philippe Petit walked the high wire between the Twin Towers on August 7, 1974. This event prompted Andrew McMahon to write the song “Platform Fire” about this event for his band, Jack’s Mannequin. This song was not a hit for the band; however, fans of Jack’s Mannequin seem to have a special place in their heart for it.
Thesis Statement: In this speech I am going to explain how forensic teams use fingerprints to identify individuals.
Brief history of Forensic, it surfaced in the state of San Francisco in the 1850’s systematic photography was being used to obtain criminal identification. Later on in the 1920’s “Los Angeles Police Department established the first police department crime laboratory in the United States (Forensic science timeline (n.d). Forensic continued to progress over the years to became one of the most innovating fields in the criminal justice system. Forensic help in the prosecution of many cases as well as exclusion of the wrongfully accused (Forensic science timeline (n.d). Forensic tech work primarily for local governments and state in police departments, coroner offices, and crime laboratories. This field is a combination of lab and field work the best of both worlds (Career guide for forensic science technician (n.d). This is what makes Forensic Science Technician the field of interest; the customary duties of a forensic science technician consist of gathering evidence, investigation of evidence collected, and reporting their discoveries in writing and may also be called into a court of law (criminal or civil laws) to present their finding before a judge (Career guide for forensic science technician (n.d).. There are several different areas of expertise in the field of a forensic technicians are often responsible or specialize in particular types of evidence such as biochemistry, ballistics, fingerprinting, and handwriting analysis. It has been said that forensic science technicians are mostly call upon to assist in two places on crime scenes and in crime labs (Dillon .H, 1999). Crime scenes contains that valuable evident that must be careful collected and preserved to help with the reconstruction of crimes by theorizing the events ...
Houck, M. M., Crispino, F., & McAdam, T. (2012). The science of crime scenes. (pp. 323-329).
Though he may seem acquitted and amiable, Gerard de Villefort can be dangerous and even murderous. Gerard has done numerous things in his life to corroborate his sinfulness, including the assayed murder of his son, Andrea, by burying him alive when he was a newborn. Gerard is also one of the three main conspirators in the Count's arrest and imprisonment; it is he who is the most measurable of the three. The Count, Edmond Dantes, was an innocent man about to be married, before Gerard’s conception between right and wrong was twisted by the name of his father in a letter. Also, Gerard forces his wife to commit suicide; even though he had had many faults of his own.
The easiest way to figure out who was at the crime scene is by taking fingerprints. Good impressions such as fingerprints can be the most valuable pieces of evidence in a forensic investigation. Impressions help link a person to a crime scene or crime as well can provide information on any weapon that could've been used at the scene. An educated technician would compare and search fingerprints manually and on AFIS computer system for classification, comparison and identification. "Analyzing evidence is not a quick or simple process.
Forensic science has changed dramatically over the years in a number of different ways, both positive and negative; new discoveries have altered the ways in which scientific experiments are carried out; how evidence is collected from a crime scene and overall how a criminal is caught as a result of the findings and conclusions made by forensic scientists. Crime has existed for millions of years; however the way in which a crime is detected hasn’t been around for the same length of time. Forensic science has gone through many changes for the better and has become a lot more accurate and reliable since it was first established. The arrival of modern forensic science made apprehending the criminal a lot faster and a lot simpler. The police records are full of anonymous corpses that have been so badly mutilated that they are unable to be recognised by the human eye. This gives forensic scientists a very difficult job; it requires precise medical expertise in order to identify that person and figure out what happened. The
Forensic psychology is a continually adapting sphere. It is hard to have one solid definition for the field, as there are so many aspects that interlock. Within each attribute of the forensic psychology has roles and responsibilities to sustain. The rapid growth and emerging importance of this field volumes of information will be developed in the next decade.
The Trace Evidence Unit is known to examine the largest variety of evidence types and uses the biggest range of analytical methods of any unit. materials are compared with standards or known samples to determine whether or not they share any common characteristics. In this paper I will discuss the different kinds of trace evidence and how crime scene investigators use it to solve cases and convict criminals. Trace evidence was first discovered by Edmond Locard. Edmond Locard was born in 1877, and founded the Lyon’s Institute of Criminalistics.
“Advance in Forensics Provide Creative Tools for Solving Crimes.” www.ctcase.org. Np. n.d. Web. 17 March 2014.
Forensic Science, recognized as Forensics, is the solicitation of science to law to understand evidences for crime investigation. Forensic scientists are investigators that collect evidences at the crime scene and analyse it uses technology to reveal scientific evidence in a range of fields. Physical evidence are included things that can be seen, whether with the naked eye or through the use of magnification or other analytical tools. Some of this evidence is categorized as impression evidence2.In this report I’ll determine the areas of forensic science that are relevant to particular investigation and setting out in what method the forensic science procedures I have recognized that would be useful for the particular crime scene.
White, P 1992, Crime scene to court: the essentials of forensic science, Royal Society of Chemistry, London, p. 20-33.
As far back as 1832, James Marsh was the first to use forensics at trial to give evidence as a chemist in 1832. Since that time forensic science and evidence has come a long way in various ways and technology to help in determine if the suspect is guilt or not, through such things as DNA testing, blood, and fingerprints. The first forensic police crime lab was created in 1910. The contributions of Dr. Edmond Locard, a French scientist and criminologist, proposed that “everything leaves a trace”. This principle is still valid today as it was so many years ago. No matter how small, the specialized trained technicians and investigators can take these methods and go to a crime scene to get evidence. “Forensic science is the application of sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering to matters of law.” (Office of Justice, 2017) These different sciences can help achieve and assist in solving a case. Forensic science has also the ability to prove that a crime was committed, it can find the elements of the crime, it can help place the suspect at the scene and whether the suspect had any contact with the victim. However, in the last several years the techniques and with the use of technology the evidence that forensic science uncovers can also exonerate an innocent individual who has been falsely accused of the
Gaensslen, R. E., Harris, H A., & Lee, H. (2008). Introduction to Forensic Science and Criminalistics. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. .