SketchCop®

Digital Solutions for Facial Imaging & Identification

Michael W. Streed

SketchCop FACETTE Training Course – REGISTER NOW!

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baltimore-training-ctrSketchCop Solutions is pleased to announce our upcoming, 2-day, hands-on training course – Creating Digital Composite Images for Law Enforcement, scheduled for October 23 & 24, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Attendees will learn how to develop interview strategies, testify in court as an expert witness, create high-quality facial composites using SketchCop FACETTE software and much, much more.

The course will be taught by Michael W. Streed, owner of SketchCop Solutions and Baltimore City Police Department’s full-time Forensic Artist.  Mr. Streed is one of the country’s most experienced Forensic Artists and is known for his highly-skilled communication style.  He has documented success teaching law enforcement officers from throughout the country on the subject of creating effective facial composites using commercially available software.

New and existing SketchCop FACETTE users will greatly benefit from attending the course.  Even those using competing software products are welcomed to attend.

For more information, visit: http://c17736.sgvps.net/~sketchsf/training/ and scroll to the bottom of the page.

‘Dying Art?’

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Erik Ortiz, NBC News, examines the state of forensic art versus technology in his article titled, ‘Dying Art?’: Forensic Artists Face a Digital Future.  In his article, Ortiz interviews Michael W. Streed, owner of SketchCop Solutions, about his views on the ‘state of the art’. 

To learn more about how SketchCop Solutions is leading the evolution from pencil to pixel, read the article by clicking the link.  http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/dying-art-forensic-sketch-artists-face-digital-future-n41421

 

 

‘Dying Art?’: Forensic Artists Face a Digital Future.

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SketchCop Sample_16b

On March 3, 2014, NBC news reporter Erik Ortiz published an online news article titled: ‘Dying Art?’:  Forensic Artists Face a Digital Future.  The article highlights the struggle between traditional forensic artists and software programs that create composite images.  This subject is one that law enforcement has long struggled with.  That’s because for years, a shortage of trained forensic artists forced them to use software programs that left them unsatisfied.  But, in the absence of a well-trained forensic artist, it was all they had.

 Today that’s changed.  [Read more…] about ‘Dying Art?’: Forensic Artists Face a Digital Future.

Captured – The Mesh Masked Bandit

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captured bank robberCrime Date: March 6, 2013

Crime: Bank Robbery

Agency: Grand Prairie TX Police Department

On December 31, 2012 an unknown subject began a series of bank robberies in Dallas, TX.  Over the next six months, he terrorized financial institutions throughout surrounding communities.  Police worked hard to identify him; however their efforts were thwarted by a black, tight-fitting, mesh mask he wore over his face to conceal his identity from well-placed bank surveillance cameras.  Not long after the series began, authorities dubbed him – ‘The Mesh Masked Bandit’.

On March 6, 2013, in Grand Prairie, TX, police received their first break.  A customer witnessed the subject loitering outside the Grand Bank of Texas.  The witness watched as the suspect pulled his mask on prior to entering the bank to commit another robbery.  Luckily, this same witness caught a glimpse of the subject’s face.  The witness was later able to meet with an investigator to create the above composite image which received widespread attention.

Tips began pouring in as the robberies continued.  Shortly after the suspect’s 19th robbery, Luis Delagarza was identified as ‘The Mesh Masked Bandit’.  He was arrested by local F.B.I. agents and charged with bank robbery.

Indecent Exposure Suspect Arrested

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Indecent Exposure Suspect SketchCrime Date: April 2 and 4, 2013

Crime: Indecent Exposure

Agency: La Quinta Police Department (Riverside County Sheriff’s Department)

On Tuesday, April 2, 2013 and Thursday, April 4, 2013, officers from the La Quinta Police Department responded to an indecent exposure call that occurred in the area of Victoria Drive and Diane Street in La Quinta. Their investigation revealed that at 2:30 p.m., a male adult driving a red sports utility vehicle exposed himself to female juveniles who were walking in the area. Deputies searched the area, but were unable to locate the suspect. Witnesses later helped investigators create a composite image of the suspect.
One week after the original incident, on Tuesday, April 09, 2013, Thermal Station Investigators in conjunction with the La Quinta Police Department, and the Indio Police Department were working a joint operation in the area of the two previously reported indecent exposure incidents. At 2:35 p.m., an officer from the Indio Police Department observed the suspect vehicle in the area of Desert Stream Drive and Bridgette Way in La Quinta. The driver of the vehicle was detained and positively identified as the suspect from both incidents after officers noted his resemblance to the composite image provided by eyewitnesses..