SketchCop®

Digital Solutions for Facial Imaging & Identification

The SketchCop® Blog

SketchCop Solutions is Turning Heads with ForensicaGPS

by

ForensicaGPSEach day, forensic artists work with victims and eyewitnesses to exploit an assailant’s most visible asset – their face.  Whether using traditional methods, or a computer software program, these dedicated artists provide facial composites to law enforcement with the hope they will lead to an identification.

Now, investigators have a new high-tech tool to add to their forensic facial imaging toolbox – facial recognition.  These powerful software programs rely on high-speed mathematical algorithms to quickly examine and sort through an innumerable amount of photographs hoping to match them to the target image.  A list of probable candidates is then forwarded to investigators for further follow up.

Surveillance photographs, still images and composite sketches are but just a few of the images that can be fed into these systems.  With the proliferation of cell phone cameras, private and governmental surveillance camera systems, as well as other image capture devices, law enforcement are relying on these images more than ever before. [Read more…] about SketchCop Solutions is Turning Heads with ForensicaGPS

Crime Spree Ends After Deputies Shoot, Kill, Murder Suspect

by

KCSO_Murder_Susp

Crime Date: July 28, 2015

Crime: Murder, Att. Murder of a Police Officer

Agency: Kern County, CA Sheriff’s Department

On July 28, 2015, three men were taken hostage after they confronted an armed suspect they believed to be living in a cabin illegally.  For the next several hours, he held the men hostage, threatening to kill them. It wasn’t until later they were able to escape and alert authorities. A short time later, they helped construct a composite sketch of the suspect that was widely distributed in the media.

Deputies immediately began conducting an area search for the suspect.  Two days later their search intensified when a retired dentist was found murdered inside another cabin 10 miles away.

On August 1, 2015, members of the Kern County Sheriff’s SWAT team were assisting deputies when they came under fire during a search inside a Kelso Valley mobile home. The armed confrontation led to two deputies receiving non-life threatening wounds and the suspect’s escape.

For the next two weeks, Kern County Sheriff’s deputies conducted the largest manhunt in the department’s history.  During the investigation, fingerprint and DNA evidence led to the identification of Benjamin Peter Ashley, 34, a homeless drifter with a lengthy arrest record, who was alleged to have access to numerous firearms.

It wasn’t until about two and a half weeks after their search began that deputies received a break in the case.

On Saturday, August 14, 2015, a citizen reported that Ashley was inside an Inyokern convenience market making a large purchase of junk food items. Deputies quickly responded to confront Ashley as he left the store.  During their contact with him, an officer-involved shooting occurred during which Ashley was killed.

 

 

Making Faces with SketchCop Solutions

by

anymeetingSketchCop Solutions continues into 2015 as Law Enforcement’s Source for Facial Imaging and Identification.  We do this by offering cost-effective solutions for law enforcement agencies – large or small.  We offer case consulting services, remote composite interviews, facial composite software, training and much more.

Consult our website at: www.SketchCop.com to learn more.

Here are some of our upcoming highlights.  [Read more…] about Making Faces with SketchCop Solutions

Ohio Deputies Sack Up The Pillowcase Bandit

by

Ohio_AGCrime Date: August 8, 2014

Crime: Residential Burglary Series

Agency: Auglaize County, OH Sheriff’s Office

Several law enforcement agencies in Western Ohio were investigating a series of residential burglaries committed by an unknown suspect they called, “The Pillowcase Bandit”.  During his crime spree, that lasted several months, the suspect broke into approximately twenty-nine homes in Auglaize, Logan, Shelby and Allen Counties.  After connecting the dots, sheriff’s detectives from all four agencies began working together to identify and arrest the suspect.

A break in the case came during one of the burglaries when he was confronted by two sisters, ages 9 and 13.  The sisters were home alone when they left their bedroom to investigate a noise coming from another area inside the house.  After surprising one another, The Pillowcase Bandit fled, while the girls hid inside a closet.  The next day, they sat down with a Special Agent from the Ohio State Attorney General’s Office – Bureau of Criminal Identification to create a composite sketch.

The sketch depicted a suspect with long blonde hair.  Allen County Sheriff’s Deputies had recently arrested Mark Ball, age 51, on a theft/burglary warrant after he was identified through his DNA left at a crime scene.

Once word of his arrest reached Auglaize County Sheriff’s Department, they learned that Ball matched the composite sketch.  He admitted to the series of burglaries and the cases will be submitted to prosecutors.

 

Create Killer Images with SketchCop FACETTE

by

SketchCompare2

SketchCop Solutions invites all civilian and military law enforcement agencies, intelligence groups, private investigators, corporate security firms, academic forensic science programs and other select organizations to try SketchCop FACETTE, our industry-leading facial composite software.  SketchCop FACETTE creates ‘killer images’ that close cases and bring criminals to justice.

Facial composites have proven themselves to be an effective law enforcement tool for over 100 years!  In many high-profile cases they are signature images that become forever associated with a case. With SketchCop FACETTE you can create your own signature images.  SketchCop FACETTE makes it easy to CLICK, CAPTURE and CONVICT your suspect when you team up your investigators and eyewitnesses with our software.

That’s because SketchCop FACETTE Face Design System Software is arguably the first facial composite software capable of yielding the same quality product offered by that of a police sketch artist. It’s designed to help produce a consistent end-product to assist in the reduction of investigative cycle times.

SketchCop FACETTE is portable and easy to use.  In the hands of trained personnel it acts as a force multiplier that can turn your entire law enforcement agency into a team of police sketch artists for LESS money than it takes to train ONE traditional police sketch artist. By placing SketchCop FACETTE into the hands of more people, you can create an unlimited number of digital composite images. And with today’s emphasis on timely intelligence gathering, SketchCop FACETTE is a real time, cost-effective, 24/7 solution for any law enforcement agency.

SketchCop FACETTE has many features and benefits, including our database which is populated with sketched facial components.  This is especially helpful for non-artists who want to create high-quality composite images for their department.

SketchCop Solutions offers FREE 2 month trial versions of SketchCop FACETTE.  We also offer several training options and we DO NOT charge yearly maintenance fees. Visit our Contact Page to request your demo/trial.  You have nothing to lose, and who knows?  You just might catch a couple of crooks along the way!