The first steps of crime scene photography?!

[j.r-ahde]

Hello you all!

The talks about the crime scene photos made me wonder;

When were the first crime scene photos ever taken in general criminal investigation history?!

To my knowledge, the modern criminal identification photos taken from the side and the front were invented by Bertillon, but otherwise I hope someone can enlighten the thing!

All the best
Jukka

[sdreid]

Hi Jukka,

Not exactly a regular police matter but Henry Wirz was hanged for war crimes in 1865, at least in part, because of the photographs of death and squalor in the Andersonville Confederate prisoner of war camp. He was the commandant of the facility during the American Civil War.

Perhaps someone else has a more traditional and/or earlier example but that's the best I can think of right now.

I don't know about mug shots.

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Stan!

The least one can say, is, that Henry Wirz was the first convicted modern war-criminal!

All the best
Jukka

[Byzantine]

When were the first crime scene photos ever taken in general criminal investigation history?!

To my knowledge, the modern criminal identification photos taken from the side and the front were invented by Bertillon, but otherwise I hope someone can enlighten the thing!

Alphonse Bertillon (1854 - 1913) is credited with the creation of the "mug shot" you described but also with "the systematisation of crime-scene photography". "He developed "metric photography" that he intended to use to reconstruct the dimension of a particular space and the placement of objects in it. Crime scene pictures were taken before the scene was disturbed in any way. He used mats printed with metric frames that were mounted along the side of the photographs. Photographs pictured front and side views of a particular object." There does not seem to be an established date for the latter practice but Bertillon was starting to use it in the 1880s.

The practice of police paying professional photographers to take portraits of suspects had started in 1841 by the French police, only two years after Louis Daguerre had publicly announced the invention of the Daguerreotype. However apparently it took them forty years to figure paying close attention to a crime scene should become standard practice.

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Byzantine!

I did know, that mr. Bertillon was a forerunner of scientific criminal investigation, including updating crime scene photography.

But he did one serious mistake in his career; he ignored the finger-print identification totally.

But that Daguerre started practically almost immediately taking photographs of criminal suspects was a new piece of info for me, thank you!

All the best
Jukka

[Byzantine]

But he did one serious mistake in his career; he ignored the finger-print identification totally.

He did not completely ignore fingerprints. He grudgingly incorporated them into his system but as a secondary indicator. But you must look to the context of his time to get why he placed little trust to fingerprints.

Fingerprints were studied by theoretic doctors for centuries but no one had really suggested them as unique to an individual. William James Herschel (1833-1917), an officer of the Indian Civil Service in Bengal, started using hand prints in his contracts with the "natives" in 1858. He intended to simply impress on them that the contract was binding. Over time he noticed that the finger prints could be used to identify the person/s signing the contract over the years. He took to comparing his own finger prints taken in different decades and noticed there was little to no difference. Naturally he quit using palm prints and switched to finger prints alone.

Dr. Henry Faulds (1843 - 1930), a Scottish doctor, set up a hospital and medical school in Japan from 1874 to 1886. He was involved in archaeological research and noticed finger prints on ancient clay fragments. He took to studying finger prints in general and was convinced they were unique to each individual. He practiced his theory while involved in a Japanese legal case. He convinced local authorities that the greasy finger print left behind by a burglar did not match the finger prints of the suspect arrested. He found a local servant whose finger prints did match and had him arrested. Convinced of the correctness of his theory, Faulds realized he was not famous enough to promote it. In 1880, he wrote an article on the subject for "Nature" magazine and a letter attempting to convince science-celebrity Charles Robert Darwin (1809 - 1882) to advance his cause. Darwin was too infirm at that point to take up a new scientific cause but introduced the concept to his cousin Francis Galton (1822 - 1911).

Thomas Taylor, a microscopist employed by the United States Department of Agriculture, independently reached the conclusion that markings on the palms and tips of the fingers could be used for identification purposes. He published articles on the subject in the "American Journal of Microscopy", "Popular Science" and "Scientific American" in 1877. He was completely ignored by the scientific establishment of his day.

Gilbert Thompson of the United States Geological Survey in New Mexico took to placing his thumb prints on documents in 1882, convinced he could prevent the forging of his signature in documents either lacking a thumb print or having one not matching his own. "Life on the Mississippi" (1883) by "Mark Twain"/Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910) features the identification of a murderer by his finger prints. Clemens was more willing to support this theory than most scientists of his day.

In 1886, Faulds is back in Great Britain and attempts to convince Scotland Yard to buy his system of finger printing. They think he is a looney and pay no attention to his letters. Faulds was hired as a police surgeon in London but has no influence on the methods employed by his employers.

Galton was not idle in the meantime. He identified common patterns in finger prints and classified them in eight broad categories, his classification system surviving to this day. He studied inherited or racial patterns and the very low probability of any two individuals sharing identical finger prints. He first published his findings in a paper addressed to the Royal Institution in 1888. He expanded on them with books published in 1892, 1893 and 1895. Finally the scientific establishment was paying attention and scientific controversy, for or against the new theory, begun in earnest.

Juan Vucetich (1858 - 1925), a Croatian-Argentinian official of the Argentinian police, was apparently eager to put this theory in practice. In 1891, Vucetich is placed in charge of the Dactyloscopy files for the Buenos Aires area, part of the Bertillon system for measuring the length of a finger. But he starts to collect finger print files as well. In 1892, Francisca Rojas' finger prints were found to match the bloody finger print left behind by the murderer of her two sons. Meaning she was the murderer. First published success for the finger print system.

In 1896-1897, Edward Richard Henry (1850 - 1891), the Inspector-General of Police in Bengal and Sub-Inspectors Azizul Haque and Hemchandra Bose work in developing a new system of classification for finger print files, allowing for fingerprint records to be organized and searched with relative ease. The "Henry Classification System" was a success. By July, 1897, Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, the Governor-General of India, was satisfied enough to expand its use to the entire British India. At first uses alongside with the Bertillon system, the latter was placed out of use in India by 1900.

In 1901, Henry was assigned as "Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis", Crime division, the third highest rank in London's Metropolitan Police. He succeeded Sir Robert Anderson who held the position since 1888. He was himself replaced by Sir Melville Macnaghten who held the position from 1903 to 1913. In his relatively brief term, Henry created the Metropolitan Police Fingerprint Bureau on July 1, 1901.

At first the Henry system was used to identify current prisoners or suspects with previous ones whose fingerprints were on file. However in 1902, the trial of Harry Jackson for burglary took place in London. He had left clear finger prints on a scene. The Police were able to match them with those on his finger print files for previous cases. Henry was determined to get a conviction in court. He assigned Richard David Muir (1857 - 1924), Prosecutor for the Crown and a legal star of his age, to convince the judges and jury in Old Bailey. Muir managed to do so and Jackson was convicted, creating a precedent on the admissibility of fingerprints as evidence. However the new system was met with criticism and even riducule by sections of the British press and public.

Henry was next promoted to "Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis" and held the position from 1903 to 1918. He is credited with modernizing the Metropolitan Police Service, "installing telephones in all divisional stations and standardising the use of police boxes". "He also soon increased the strength of the force by 1,600 men and introduced the first proper training for new constables."

Only when the Metropolitan Police adopted the Henry system did Bertillon and the rest of Europe start paying attention to it. The reluctant introduction of the practice in other police forces had begun. All the result of the work of some looneys looked on with disdain by the establishment.

But that Daguerre started practically almost immediately taking photographs of criminal suspects was a new piece of info for me, thank you!

Daguerre sold his patent to the French government in exchange for a lifelong pension in 1839. On August 19, 1839, the government under Prime Minister Jean-de-Dieu Soult declared it was its free "Gift to the World". Daguerre was thus allowed to freely share the details of his process and in effect train new photographers. This is why photography spread so quickly in the 19th century.

There was one exception. Daguerre had registered a patent in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland prior to France making its use free for the World. Britain chose to enforce the patent and ignore the French declaration. Meaning that only Antoine Claudet and a hand-full of photographers licensed by Daguerre were able to legally take daguerreotypes in the British Islands until newer photographic practices were introduced.

[perrymason]

Very informative stuff Byzantine, thanks for taking the time to show the evolution of the process.

As far as a photographed crime scene itself goes, under the circumstances surrounding this scene lockdown, we may be looking a first of its kind in recording a visual investigatorial examination of the murders scene details in the precise state they were left in by the killer.

Our member Glenn, a man who has studied hundreds of murder cases over many years suggested that to me a year or so ago....and to me that almost ensures that standards we might have for these kinds of things were not even known then, nor were likely created on the spot.

So even though the official line is that the door was forcibly opened by McCarthy himself at around 1:30pm, there is some logic in the notion that someone did recognize the spring latch method before then, and perhaps allowed the photos to be taken before then,... something that would have been awkward in that small space once police had officially just entered that room. And this perhaps was the cause of the dramatic official opening...forcing it despite the fact that perhaps two or more men in the court knew how to use the broken pane method....McCarthy and probably Bowyer anyway. To emphasize that the room was locked from the inside.

I believe that may explain why we do not have all the images preserved and marked in a police file, that or loss and destruction of files...something I question when this case was so high profile. Even if this had been a single murder, its still one for the record books.

Cheers

[Byzantine]

Very informative stuff Byzantine, thanks for taking the time to show the evolution of the process.

Thanks, it was quite refreshing actually, trying to place particular methods in their historical context. I am not sure however if I should mention a somewhat surprising trivia I came across.

I had heard about the alleged case of "Will West" and "William West" two prisoners who were reportedly misidentified as the same person by the Bertillon system but recognized as different by the finger print system in United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas c. 1903. There are arguments if it is a historical case or an urban legend first recorded in 1918. For more details see: http://www.scafo.org/library/110105.html

However the above link adds some details coming out of historical research. The prison warden in Leavenworth from 1899 to 1913 was Major Robert W. McClaughry. "Major McClaughry was a remarkable man in the history of identification in the United States. In 1887, as warden of the Illinois State Penitentiary, Joliet, he and his records clerk, Gallus Muller, introduced the Bertillon system into the United States and Major McClaughry was instrumental in the adoption of the system by the Wardens Association of the United States and Canada in the same year."

If every prisoner in Joliet since 1887 actually had an identification record under the Bertillon system, this would include a face familiar to Ripperologists: Thomas Neill Cream. He served his term there from 1 November, 1881 to 31 July 1891. This would speak poorly for the theory that any "doubles" could do time instead of Cream and nobody would notice.

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Bysantine!

In fact, according to a book I read about bertillonage;

It was a very accurate system, but one had to do the measurement utmost precisely; the margin of error being 2 (=two) millimeters.

Despite this fault, it was the most modern and effective tool of identification of its own time.

So, I agree with you completely about Neill Cream about the identification record.

Plus, that getting a body-double under those circumstances and travel overseas is somewhat unbelievable...

All the best
Jukka

[sdreid]

If a person was in Bertillon's during the 1880s, I doubt that, being an involved process, he would be remeasured every time he came in so this would not preclude the possibility of a double slipping through, I don't think. Even if he was measured every time he was arrested, one scenario states that Cream was replace by the double while he was actually serving and he definitely wouldn't be remeasured during a term he was incarcerated. They don't even do that now regarding fingerprints.

Today, we are going back to Bertillon's so he was right all along. Now, we call it biometrics but it's basically the same thing.

[ChrisGeorge]

"Crime scene photography, also called forensic photography, has been around almost as long as the camera itself. Criminologists quickly realized that such technology could freeze time -- creating a supposedly incontestable record of a crime scene, a piece of evidence or even a body. The 19th century French photographer Alphonse Bertillon was the first to approach a crime scene with the systematic methods of an investigator. He'd capture images at various distances and take both ground level and overhead shots."

From "How Crime Scene Photography Works" by Sarah Dowdey.

Chrhsi

[perrymason]

.,,,,Chrhsi[/QUOTE]

I just captured your sign off Chris, because it seems like youve chosen the Welsh spelling of your name.

Nice to see you out and about CG.

Cheers

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Stan!

So, Bertillon was too much ahead of his own time; no computer technology, no digital photograph technology etc...

In theory, Cream could have done that. But getting a ticket to a boat overseas from a prison was obviously at least as hard as these days...

All the best
Jukka