Part II. Methods and Means/методы и средства

Many chapters could be written on the methods and means that can be used in identification.

Identification, by whatever means used to establish it beyond any doubt, is a most important and vital function of the investigator in any investigation he may conduct.

The methods which are most frequently employed are: portrait parle [por'tre 'parl], photography, the artist's sketch and identi-kit [aı'dentı'kıt] (фоторобот), modus operandi, the eyewitness, voiceprint, and reports from the crime laboratory, fingerprinting being most widely used in police work.

The portrait parle is defined as a verbal picture or description of a human body. It was devised in 1882 by Alphonse Bertillon, a young clerk in the Paris police, and it is still used as the oldest means of making a physical description. Twenty commonly used points of personal physical description are ordinarily employed: ethnic data, height, weight, build, head shape, face shape, complexion (цвет лица, глаз, волос), hair, facial hair, eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, chin, ears, scars, deformities, common blood types, physical defects. As an aid in identifying a subject ten behavioral characteristics are commonly used: speech pattern, walk, handedness (привычка пользоваться одной преимущественно правой или левой рукой), habits, nervous disorders, narcotics use, alcohol use, tobacco use, sexual behaviour, mental disorders.

Photography is widely used in identification. Not infrequently witnesses and even officers experience difficulty in accurately describing a person, a place, or thing, but, when they are shown a photograph, they are able to make a positive identification of a person and confirm or deny the content of the photograph as it depicts a place or thing.

The artist's sketch and identi-kit. Often, even with the aid of photography, identification cannot be established, and it then is necessary to couple (соединять, связывать) the technique of the verbal description with that of the artist's sketch. This technique for making identifications has developed and been greatly expanded over the past 20 years. The artist draws, colours, and shades (штриховать, тушевать) as a verbal description is given to him. In recent years, some of the particular sizes, shapes, angles, and other features of the human head have been standardized to the point, that with a description and the manipulation of various plastic overlays (пластинки с изображением фрагментов человеческого лица) of the identi-kit, an accurate picture of a person can be made in black and white in a period of a few minutes. Such a picture then may be transmitted by teletype to other agencies, and subsequently (впоследствии, потом, позже) printed in newspapers and otherwise made public if necessary. This process has truly been an achievement and an advancement (успех, прогресс) in the field of identification.

Eyewitness. A further avenue available is the confrontation of a suspect in custody (заключение, стража) with an eyewitness. This is accomplished most generally through a process called a lineup (строй, опознание) whereby a witness or victim observes and hears the suspect talk, but the suspect does not see the witness.

All of the means and methods of identification mentioned above are universally used in police investigaion.

Modus operandi. In many investigations, no description of a person suspected of criminal activity is available. Thus an identification will be attempted to make by analyzing the methods and techniques employed by the suspect, those which is known as his modus operandi (method of operation or M. O.) in the perpetration (совершение) of his crimes. Special files (картотека) of M. O. are contained in identification bureaus where criminal records are received, classified and maintained. The evidence of modus operandi is of great importance in detecting pickpocketing (карманное воровство), burglaries, shoplifting, sex-offences, arsons (поджог), murders, etc.

Fingerprinting is the only sure way to confirm (подтверждать) the identity of a person who is suspected of crime. When a finger touches (касаться) the surface (поверхность) of an object, the print of his finger is left on the surface. This is called fingerprint. Every fingerprint is unique. This principle is used by all police forces to identify criminals (or sometimes dead bodies). So, if a suspect arrested does not confess (признаваться) his guilt (вина) it may be proved by comparing his fingerprints with those found at the scene and showing that they are identical. Fingerprints are used not only to connect a suspect with the scene, they also may indicate the identity of the criminal when it is not known if he had been previously fingerprinted and the prints are in the possession of the police. For this reason the prints of criminals are collected and filed in criminal record offices. A fingerprint found at the scene of crime is sent to a criminal record office to discover whether an identical print has been recorded, the identity of its owner (владелец) becomes known. In practice, all persons accused of crime are fingerprinted on arrest and before trial.

Fingerprints establish identification beyond any doubt. Thefts, robberies and murders are often solved with the help of fingerprinting.

Other items of physical evidence – direct and indirect (circumstantial)* may also be removed from the crime scene. When they are processed and analyzed by the crime laboratory, they often provide the investigator with the information to establish identification of the perpetrators (нарушитель, преступник) if there are no witnesses or other avenues open to him.

Voiceprinting, handwriting and even typewriting are also used for identification purposes. It's interesting to note that it was Conan Doyle's idea of tracing and identifying an individual typewriter by means of its peculiarities in his story "A Case of Identity" (1891) – three years before the first mention of the subject in technical literature.

ГРАММАТИКА И УПРАЖНЕНИЯ ДЛЯ ЧТЕНИЯ