The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-03-19


 By ". C. BOWICk
 One of the most feared places in Birmingham where criminals, floaters and men with records fear to tread is the bureau of identification, oper- ated by the Birmingham police de- partment located on the second floor of the city hall.
 In the bureau of identification, un- der supervision of w. L. Brannon, is one of the most up-to-date and mod ern criminal bureaus south of the fed Kan.
 Here are found records of more than 1000 notorious criminals who have caused police of many American and foreign cities no little concern. These are the permanent records of the police department and consist of photographs, Bertllon measurements and finger prints which have served their purposes in bringing to the bar of justice some of the most notorious criminals of modern times.
 Photography, known in criminal work in identifying faces. is perhaps the most universally used method in | existence, about which the average person already knows much. but the most scientific and modern means of tracing and Identifying criminals is the finger print system, of which the 1 Birmingham department boasts proudly and perhaps justly because of the facilities and equipment which the department maintains in the de- tection and identification of criminals BertiIion system
 The Bertillon system of measure ments, which at one time was consid- cred the last word in identification, officials declare is fast falling by the | wayside. The scientific relation pf the system is without doubt, but since the universal application of finger | prints. it is doomed. The reason for l it's demise Is the fact that 1t is losing popularity in the march of progress and the ever growing demands for brevity. The system itself is brief to say the least, but is declared by criminal operatives to be cumbersome and superfluous because of the adven; of the finger print system, which is conceded the most infallible identifi- cation system known to science. No two persons in the whole world | have yet since the system was intro duced been fo;-nd to possess the same finger classifications, but that in it. self would amount to little unless il offered mans of, comparing ques- 1 tionable impressions. This is just what | finge rprint experts have perfected and the study and mastery of the sys- tenn itself is a scientific accomplish ment of which there are perhaps none better read or more thoroughly ac- quainted than the chief of the local bureau,
 Outstanding Feature
 One of the many outstanding accom- plishments of the bureau in the iden- tification of criminals is shown by the recent apprehension of son Polk. charged with the murder of Robert Harris. whom he slew on Sec ond avenue in December of last year After the killing Polk fled and noth- ing was heard froI him until officers returned him from Cincinnati, where he had gone directly following the commission of the felony.
 Finger prints left uncovered by the alleged felon were photographed by attaches of the Identification bureau and filed with the records of the case shortly after the murder. Polk was apprehended on minor charge in the Ohio metropolis, but the word had gone out and the authorities com pared their records with those fur nished by the local department, which resulted in returning the negro to Birmingham and he now awaits trial for the alleged act.
 Sandpaper the Skin
 Whatever doubt may exist in the average lay mind as to the infalli- bility of the system amounts 10 naught with the intelligent criminal He knows what it has done and what is possible by it's application. AS an evidence of this belief many detained at the local office have fared pretty well in courage even through the or deal of having their photographs made. but when the fingers are com pared after having been printed, then is where they lose their composure. Many have tried filing, but even sand papering thes skin from the fingers until they bleed falls to remove a trace of the outer unit of the weave