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Show rw" CLEARFIELD COURIER, Jan. 24. 1 979, Page 7 i ' - ' ' l GawBs (SMlnly ' , Dolb (sKaldl SFDInfQ i . . ' v'; 5 " ITQA7 fttyWQSft ft FARMINGTON Wanted posters nave come a long ways since the days of Jesse James and so have tne methods with which they are made. The Davis County Sheriffs Office, under the direction of the Crime Lab, Payne. It costs the department has been working with a composite system since 1975 that uses hundreds foils. of plastic photographic-lik- e The system, known as Identi-Ki- t, is used by the department on a rental basis, according to Detective Sgt. Ken putting together a composite. Recent composites completed by the department include ones of the two suspects from the Christmas shooting-spre- e incident, to several armed robberies in the North Salt Lake area. The composites are completed and then placed on a wanted poster $264 annually and the company supplies d cards periodically. Detectives Roger Anderson, Sharon Esplin, Phil Leonard and Bud Cox have also been trained to use the system which is used by the sheriffs office as well as several law enforcement agencies throughout Davis and Weber counties. The kit contains individual plastic , overlays that can be grouped together to make a composite photograph of a suspect. For example, there are 157 different eyebrows in the kit, 100 different eyes and varying numbers of noses, mouths, hair styles, etc. Also included are age lines, glasses, hats, beards and mustaches. The basic idea behind making a composite of a suspect is not necessarily that of making positive identification, but to eliminate a whole bunch of other people, explained Det. Anderson. Det. Sgt. Payne went on to explain that if a call goes out to officers to watch for a Ford Pinto, it leaves the field wide open. But if we narrow it down to a Ford Pinto with wood grain paneling, weve helped the officers eliminate a lot of vehicles automatically. The same is true in putting together a composite. If an officer is told to look for a suspect 62, 170 lbs., brown hair, brown eyes, with glasses the possibilities are endless. But if we can give them a composite showing what the witness saw, what kind of glasses, what style of hair, and so forth, it narrows the number of suspects, continued Det. Sgt. ' Payne. ' r ' On the average the department puts together about six composites a month, usually in cases of burglaries, rape, and robberies. Any case involving a suspect that was seen but not identified is cause for a composite drawing, explained Det. Anderson. Depending on how well the suspect was seen and how much the witness remembers, most composites can be completed within a few minutes to an hour. Sometimes a case is more traumatic and the witness may have a mental block concerning the suspect, added Det. Sgt. Payne. The men in the department have been trained to get the witness thinking about details and to bring out their memory. The plastic overlays can be as many times as necessary ' changed until the witness feels that the com-posiis as. close to the suspect as possible. Sometimes in cases involving more than one witness, the drawings may be somewhat different and the most distinguishing characteristics of each drawing may be used to make still another composite. ' Although the department does not have specific statistical information on the number of arrests made from the composites, many arrests have been made. Some of the composites are very close to the real indentity of the person, some are not. But the department officials feel (hat they serve a real purpose. Det. Anderson pointed out one case involving two young boys that were approached by a man demanding their money. One youth was grabbed by the man, and threatened, while the Other boy stood some distance away .watching what was going on. The composite made by the boy being threatened showed a real mean person. His features were large and scary, added Det. Anderson. On the other hand, the composite made by the boy who watched was almost completely different. In the end, after the arrest was made the suspect did look more like the drawing from the wit-nerather than the victim. Emotions play a large part in any crime and we take those into consideration when with statistical information and descriptions. These posters are circulated throughout the law enforcement areas involved. The wanted posters carry no guarantee that the suspect will be caught, but its interesting to see how good your composite was if the Tuy is picked up, irson. concluded Det. Story and by An-- 1 pictures Pat Sutter the plastic overlay pipces to form Det. Anderson receives from a for which hair style to use. witness suggestions PUTTING TOGETHER an actual photograph, - - looks .through samples of eyebrows in. the laenti-Ki- t in begin work on a composite. Various overlays are pieced together until a photographic-likenes- s of the suspect is completed.' 'y DET, ROGER ANDERSON or-der- to AN ACTUAL arrest, Det. Anderson shows the photograph of the taken suspect during booking procedures along with the composite drawing used on the wanted poster issued. Not all composites compare as well as in this case, but they usually do give the officers a better idea of what they are looking for. FOLLOWING te . Li 319 28th Street (Right Across from A1 Glass) Equipped for all auto & truck repairs, including front-en- d alignments. SUNSET CITY POLICE Lt. v holitenu aro o MEW REPAIRS CUSTOM Children's Furniture Free estimates anytime. Serving all areas, Drapes backed with a good reputation Carpeting, Pact service. terms, pick-uand delivery, t , p , weWdottrl , 392-602- 2 ; DAN ALFARO checks recent wanted posters at tha Offlce. The posters are the Sheriff's Davis County result of composite photographs compiled by the crime lab. LT. DEAN EGBERT - . ' "Rodo It & Save i i 1012 22nd St., Ogdan, Utah 84401 jI ' i OGDEN OFF ROAD CENTER ss Archie Searle places a new wanted poster on the bulletin board in his department. Various law enforcement agencies throughout Davis and Weber Counties use the composite system in attempting to locate suspects. v . t Phone: 392-051- 1 |