Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1923-02-23
FINGER PRINTS
HELP UNRAVEI.
MANY CRIMES

established by Sheriff John Gray has
been In operation at the sherif's
ottiee for period less than three
months. some remarkable results have
/ already been obtained and al the
| present plans are being made for M
enlargement Of the original plans OF
the bureau.
As In ether cities and counties a
the, natiors the local Identification
bureau Is relying chiefly on the hnget
print method of identification. Thl.
system is almost universally used by
police departments and finger bureau,
the world over, Not only are the
finger prints being used to advantage
IN criminal work, but In civil proceed.
ings OF an important nature, also.
onl, recently the Identification bu.
feaus of the country, and finger print
experts In particular volunteered their
services to any family who wished to
Keep the finger prints on file. Many
| families keep the prints hled In No
album, or at the home. as they would
photographs. The advantages are
numerous. In the event of serious
accident In which Identification would
prove impossible otherwise, the fam.
| lilies are provided with means OF
deciding whether or not the decensei
Is really Of the family. Many persons
are reported Missing" Had the fam.
lies OF these persons the finger prints
OF the missing persons, many myster,
les would unquestionably be cleared
tnuay Insurance companies are
adopting the method to establish
beyond doubt, the identity of deceased
policy holders. In some localities
persons making their Wills, aiFix their
thumb print TO the document, and a.
! the same time place their finger
prints ON file IN convenient place,
so that after death the finger prints
on file and that affixed 10 the will may
be compared and thereby avert any
possibility of charges Of forgery,
As TO the criminal work of the
identification bureau at the sheriif's
office, resume Of the work under.
taken since Sheriff Gray took office
on December 4, shows:
The sheriff'g office il cooperating
with s3i sheriif's offices, police de.
partments and penal institutions
throughout the country In the OK.
change of finger prints of suspected
criminals. Just what advantage this
Is may be substantiated by the fol.
lowing illustrations: -
Briscoe Browning was arrested ~
a suspect In connection with AN al.
legged assault. He denied he had
ever been In trouble, Records ob.
tanned by bis finger prints alone
proved he had served five different
sentences In the west.
Harry White, convicted OF an as.
sault, confessed, when his finger
prints were taken that he had served
time In Florence, Afiz. This was
later confirmed.
Harry Rehburg was found to be
wanted in Chicago for shooting
patrolman, after his finger prints had
bee nsent there and compared with
those of man known as Jimmy
kemmerling, and who was In reality
Harry Ricnburg.
Harry Fields, arrested by the Ur-
bana police, as vagrant was sus.
pected Of being a professional Grim.
inal. He denied II. Finger prints
showed he had served two years at
Twin Falls, Idaho, and two years at
Baker, Oregon, on charges Of bur
Rlary under two different names. He
was held in the county jail 60 days,
and II he bad planned anything here,
he was discouraged before he began.
George Pedan, arrested by Cham
paign officers for the theft of an
automobile, was found to have a long
prison record, and that record, OBJ
tanned by finger prints, was recently
used against him in court at Danville.
Wesley Jenkins Of Broadlands,
when his finger prints were taken,
confessed that he was formerly an
inmate Of Chester penitentiary and
this was later confirmed.
In each Of these cases finger prints
proved conelusiyely that the men be-
ing handled were not first offenders,
but what may be classed as the pro-
fessional criminals.
Another angle Of the finger print
work, heretofore unknown to the pub
lie, is that since the system was
adopted by the sherifT's Office. prints
have been obtained at scenes Of six
crimes.
In three of these cases, one being
handled by Finger Print Expert
Wolfe Of Champaign police depart
ment, the men who committed the Of
Tense were traced and positively
identified, through finger prints alone.
In each Of the three cases, II ap-
peared at first that officers would be
without clue. The finger prints we're
found at the scene Of the crime; finger
prints Of suspects were taken, and
three cases which may have gone
/ down in the records as mysteries"
we're solved.
Unfortunately In each Of these
cases, those standing in the position
to prosecute took the cases out Of the
+ hands Of authorities and prosecutions
/ we're stopped m0mentariiy.
The mere fact that finger print
Is found at the scene Of = crime does