February’s half-done and there’s still love in the air! And let me tell you…there’s nothing I LOVE more than catching crooks!
In this month’s newsletter, I thought I would share my method for creating effective facial composites.
As a reminder, we are in the last 2 days of a giveaway, – one lucky winner will receive a FREE 30-minute sketch lesson, courtesy of SketchCop® Solutions and Debbie Mack’s Crime Café.
To top things off, I’m also going to provide you with 30% discount off my book – Creating Digital Faces for Law Enforcement. (Keep reading to find the discount code.)
Who says I don’t love you all?
Now, let’s get to it…
In the early days, most law enforcement agencies used Smith & Wesson’s IdentiKit to create facial composites.
The Identikit was a small wooden box containing hundreds of facial features printed on small sheets of acetate. Officers would assemble them at the direction of the eyewitness to create a facial composite. In my opinion, it was a crude tool, but an effective one.
Once computers introduced us to facial composite software; I made the decision to get involved, hoping to influence the technology.
Most of my work with software companies involved customer training. Back then, my training was structured in separate blocks, leaving the student to figure out how to apply the training once it was concluded.
Today, we’ve developed a better way to combine the training blocks in a way that’s more cohesive.
Our current training – Creating Digital Faces for Law Enforcement uses The SketchCop® Solution – A 5-Step Method for Creating Effective Facial Composites.
Whether you’re sketching by hand or using a software-driven solution similar to our SketchCop® Facial Composite System software program, the method remains the same. To help you better understand our system; I’ve described the steps below for you to follow:
- Gather
- Build
- Edit
- Refine
- Finish
- Review – police reports or other related material
- Interview – Build rapport, utilize cognitive interview technique
- Guide your eyewitness through the on-screen facial component libraries the SketchCop® Facial Component System software program
- Use built-in modification tools to establish correct facial proportion by adjusting the length, width and proper location of select facial components
- Use SketchCop®’s edit & paint tools to complete the facial composite, or export the composite image to an outside program, like Adobe® or Corel® products
- Provide the eyewitness with a final opportunity to review the image and make final refinements
- Save image
- Print a copy of the facial composite, date and sign it along with the eyewitness
- Close out the interview, reassure them and thank them for remaining engaged in the investigation
- Deliver the facial composite to the requesting investigator and debrief him/her. Do not allow the eyewitness to leave until OK’d by the detective
If you follow the above steps, you should have no problem creating an effective facial composite.
To learn more, click on the link below to order your discounted copy of my book – Creating Digital Faces for Law Enforcement (Elsevier/Academic Press)
https://www.elsevier.com/books/creating-digital-faces-for-law-enforcement/streed/978-0-12-805102-3
Use the code FOREN320 at checkout to receive your discount.
Also, enter the giveaway for a FREE 30-minute sketch lesson. Click on the link below to learn how.
http://www.debbimack.com/blog/guest-posts/a-guest-post-and-giveaway-by-michael-streed/
Thanks again for tuning in! I hope you enjoy your offers. Stay with us for more exciting news coming next month.
Until then, keep sketching!