Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-07
FINGER PRINTS
TO CATCH CROOKS
CHIEF AUBLE IMPRESSED WITH
NEW SYSTEM
As Result Of His Visit East, Los An
qeles viii Probably Get More
Police sub-stations
Shortly

y
next few weeks the finger prints Of
every man who is arrested by the po-
lice of Los Angeles will be taken and
this print will be kept on file in the
office of the chief of police.
Chief Auble, who returned Saturday
from an eastern tour, has many new
ideas, and among them is the finger
print detection system. In speaking of
the new system, which has been
adopted by Scotland Yard, the Pinker-
ton detective agency and other of the
detective firms, Mr.. Auble said:
THE Bertllon system of measure
ments, which is the measurements Of
the entire person of man, has been
used for years, and has proven to he
of great service In the detection Of
crime. But there have been times when
this method has not satisfactorily iden-
tilted criminals.
Men, sometimes, are SO nearly alike
as to scars, deformities, etc, that it
| is almost impossible to distinguish
tehm. But there are not, and never have
there been known, two men who have
the same identical finger prints.
Used on Soldiers
THE United States government has
recently adopted the finger print detec-
| ton system, whereby every soldier must
nave the print of his finger taken aud
the same kept on file by the govern
ment. BY this means it is possible TO
| Identify every soldier i'm the army.
This same system ought to be, and
will be, adopted If the police commits
sion act upon my advice as to the
adoption of this system in Los An
geles.
1T is not expensive to inaugurate
this system; in fact $3.50 will purchase
the necessary paraphernalia for it.
| by taking the finger print of the
criminals, detection will be made more
certain and, as it has been used to ad-
vantage by many detective agencies,
there is no reason why 1t should not
be adopted here in connection with the
Bertillon system Of measurements
which is now established here.
1.-THE process of taking the print is
easy. A little printers ink on glass
and an index system are the chief re-
quirements. A prisoner is made to
place his hand ON a glass which is COW
cred with printers ink And then the
print is taken on paper and put ON
file.
"Then by a chemical process the fin-
ger print can be taken from any place
where the hand has been placed So
If a criminals hand has been placed
ON book or piece of steel, his fin
ger print can be compared with those
on file in the office
Sherlock Holmes Ideal
This used to be thought as an ideal
| of A. Conan Doyle, and an impossible
Ideal stunt of Sherlock Holmes, but it
has been demonstrated as one of the
surest methods of detection that the
world has ever known"
In speaking of the police force OF
/ Los Angeles, Chief Auble said:
HAt the convention in Hot Springs,
Ark. of the chiefs of police from the
was up to the average, in fact lit
tie better than most of the forces. But
did find that we lacked in military
rule, and in the number of sub-stations
which we have.
1T is my opinion that we need at
least six more sub-stations in Los An
geles The three stations which we
have are covering too much territory.
There ought to be a station in Boyle
Heights and one out Vernon avenue
way. One in Colegrove would not be
amiss, and then others ought to be
placed where one station has too large
a district"
Chief Auble had very interesting
trip in the east, he says. and believes
that the police force here will be i'm
proved by the new ideas which he got
while in Washington, d. c., and at
Hot Springs, Ark.
'I was a little worried when, in Bal
timore," he says, 81 heard the report
that some eleven thousand people had
been killed by the earthquake in our
city.
''This report, however, says the
chief, was soon refuted. I am glad to
get back to Los Angeles, where things
are better than in the east"