Police Photography The use of photography in police work dates from 1852, when the Swiss Federal Government authorized the Department of Justice and Police to have photographs taken of all vagrant beggars found in cantons other than their own. In December 1854 the governor of Bristol Gaol, England, issued a circular recommending other prison governors to follow his practice of having a photograph taken of every prisoner in his charge. The same year, a wanted persons notice with photograph, made according to the suggestion of Moreau Christophe, was billposted publicly in France. This was first done in England in 1861. It was not until 1870 that the photographing of every prisoner in England and Wales was made compulsory. The procedure was justified during the year 1871-72 when 375 arrests were made in consequence of the criminals having been identified by photographs. Today the more advanced photographic techniques are in constant and daily use by all the larger police forces of the world. Well equipped photographic departments are an integral part of police administration and their contribution, especially in crime detection, is an important one. Great reliance is placed upon photographic evidence by the Courts of this land and hardly a major crime of any importance is solved without photographic evidence of some kind. Evidence of this type is factual, objective and without bias. For recording the scenes of serious crimes its value is inestimable.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 00:49:36 +0000
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