The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1902-06-14
CATCHING CRIMINALS
Operations Of the National Bureau
! of Identification.
beginning Of an Institution That
Promises to Become an Invalu-
able Agency i'm the Curtail-
nent of Crime.

80 ~>~> ~~A SSSAA~
nent of Crime.
1t was a woeful day for the 100000
criminals of the United States, not to
mention their brother crooks in other
countries when the National Bureau
OF Identification was conceived, says
Washington ID. CO. correspondence
OF the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Maj. Richard Sylvester, president of
the National Association of Chiefs of
Police and member of the board of
governors of the bureau, while super
ln'endent of the Capital city's model
police force, originated this central
bureau of information for the aid of
the numerous Sherlock Holmses of
North America.
the new bureau, is young man with
an eagle eye. Identifying criminals
was part of his kindergarten. train
ing. He is the son of Capt. M. P.
Evans, superintendent of the Chicago
City Identification Bureau since 1884.
In boyhood he assisted his father be-
tween school hours, and for the past
five years he has been an attache Of
the embryonic national bureau.
The walls of the bureau are lined
with cabinets filled with thousands of
cards each bearing upon its face the
photographs of a criminal, one full
face and the other profile. On the
same side are given the measurements,
age and physical characteristics of the
criminal. On the back are noted such
data as his name, residence, crime, etc.,
also his marks, scars, molds and other
defects or abnormalities. In short.
these cards are such as regularly make
up the Bertillon catalogues used in
all up-to-date police departments.
All the cards collected in the So
American and Canadian cities contrib.
uting to the maintenance of the bu-
reau-such of them, at least, as repre-
sent the current criminal class-are
being duplicated and filed in the cen
trail bureau. What task this is can
be cleaned from the fact that in Chi
cago alone there are 10000 cards rep
resenting the criminal element of the
western metropolis itself, and $4,000
more representing criminals from out
side communities who have been in
some way connected with Chicago
"jobs." Over 100000 of these $4,000
have been collected under the Bertil-
Ion system; the other $4,000 under the
old-fashioned rogue's gallery scheme.
The thousands of cards are arranged
in three groups, each contained in one
of the three immense cabinets. The
first cabinet contains large heads"
the second medium heads" the third
small heads"
Head length, therefore, is the first
key which opens the cabinet. John
Doe, alias Skeeter jack" must there
fore be looked for first in the medium
head' cabinet" There are, perhaps,
score or more of crooks with heads
1873 centimeters long, but all of these
OF like head lengths are subclassifed,
first according to head widths, second,
according to length of middle finger,
and SO on down the scale of data on
each card. All of the cards compar-
ing favorably with John Does descrip-
ton are laid to one side for final COM
parison with the full-face and profile
photographs on the card sent. A rea-
sonable margin for error in measure
ments is allowed. In fact, some of the
most important identifcat lions so far
made by the bureau have been based
on cards. on which those errors have
been wide.
Years of training in the science of
Identification are necessary before
aptitude much less experiences can be
attained. Dead criminals have offered
some of the most difficult problems.
Instances where crooks are killed in
combat with their intended victims or
in escaping from the scenes of their
plumber, are many. In such cases the
police of cities subscribing to the new
bureau send their Bertillon operators
and photographers to morgues, where
must be gathered the Crews ONE data
for the Identification cards. Manv
such cards are scattered through the
national classification, and all of them
are terrible to look upon.
Maj. Sylvester says that a great po-
lice bureau will evolve out of the in
stltution. Tt is his ambition that its
international scope will include not
only Canada, but the great continental
countries of the old world. The state
department is now issuing invitations
to 200 foreign police officials to attend
the meeting of the National Associ-
atron of Chiefs of Police to be held in
Louisville next May. During that
meeting plans for the extension of the
system will be discussed.
All of the chiefs of police of the
United Ssstes and many high federal
officials are strongly in favor-of plac-
ing the bureau under the deDartment.