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Dab hands at solving crime
(Yorkshire Evening Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) 100 years of fingerprint bureau A PIONEERING tool in the detection of crime in West Yorkshire celebrates its 100th birthday tomorrow.
West Yorkshire Police's fingerprint bureau has helped to catch thousands of criminals since its launch by West Riding Constabulary in a dusty and cramped office a century ago.
Today the bureau - the second to be formed after London's Scotland Yard Bureau in 1901 - is housed in an air-conditioned computerised office and is capable of comparing marks from crime scenes with millions of fingerprints nationwide in minutes.
But despite new technology, it is still fingerprint experts with magnifying glasses who establish whether there is a match.
There is evidence that fingerprints were used in the county earlier by Bradford City Police in 1903. But the West Riding beginning came when an "expert photographer," Sgt E Eaton, was sent by Chief Constable HC Metcalfe to London's Scotland Yard to learn about the "new system of identifying criminals." He then had to pass on this expertise to other officers across the force area.
Soon the force's fingerprint register - the first in the provinces - was also established.
Since then the bureau has become one of the biggest and best in Britain. Today, it is part of the force's scientific support unit, working closely with various departments including scenes of crime and the intelligence unit, to exploit identification methods including DNA, facial recognition, footwear, imaging unit, and Viper (video identification parade electronic recording).
Soon beat officers will be capable of checking suspects' identities through mobile technology.
Centre Over the decades the bureau's success and workload has expanded enormously In 1925 just 21 identifications were made by fingerprints. About 30 years later that figure had grown to 738 and last year the bureau recorded 6,369 fingerpint identifications.
From the start, the fingerprint staff at Bradford City Police and the West Riding Constabulary worked closely together.
In October 1906, West Riding Quarter Sessions heard a case where Bradford's Det Con Oliver Cromwell discovered finger marks at a burglary scene which Sgt Eaton later identified as belonging to Aaron Cooper.
Cooper became the first person convicted secured solely on fingerprint evidence.
The West Riding bureau established itself as a regional centre covering an area stretching from Stoke to Durham. Some forces' small bureaux operated in tandem with the West Riding force, submitting fingerprint forms and crime scene impressions to its centre.
In 1931 there were at least four fingerprint officers, two photographers and two clerks. By 1958 the bureau had 22 staff, headed by Chief Inspector Thomas 'Tibby' Butterfield Brown. Initially it was staffed by police officers and supported by civilian clerks and photographers. In 1962 the first civilian fingerprint officer was employed.
Today's fingerprint bureau boasts more than 60 support staff members.
Each division has a team of fingerprint officers dedicated to: ? Checking elimination and suspect prints ; ? Interrogating information systems to ensure that all potential suspects are checked ; ? Assessing and searching unidentified marks on computerised databases ; ? Preparing and presenting evidence in court ; ? Providing advice and support on all fingerprint matters .
Today, automated fingerprint identification systems check crime scene marks against vast databases, producing a shortlist for detailed on-screen comparison by an expert.
Once taken using ink and paper, fingerprints are now taken on Livescan electronic fingerprint analysis units. West Yorkshire Police was the first force to have Livescan facilities in all divisions and the first force to go live at an airport.
Recently, four fingerprint officers from West Yorkshire travelled to Thailand to help in fingerprinting recovered tsunami victims.
Conviction The bureau has notched up many firsts.
In 1954, a new treatment was developed which produced fingerprints using a chemical which reacted to sweat. Soon after, a British Transport Police officer was attacked in the West Riding after disturbing a robbery in progress and almost died from head injuries. Packaging torn by the robbers was treated using the chemical and a mark identified led to a conviction .
In 1993, AFR, a computerised searching system, was brought into use by a consortium of 43 forces. West Yorkshire was the first bureau to achieve 100 identifications in a single week and the first to reach 5,000.
In 1974 a shopkeeper from Beeston, Leeds, Annie Blenkarn, was murdered in an opportunist robbery. Fingerprints found at the scene were checked against bureau files without success and it was feared the murderer had no record.
Det Ch Supt Dennis Hoban, made a public appeal for all persons living or working in Beeston between the ages of 12 and 50 to volunteer to give their fingerprints for elimination. Two polling booths were erected in Beeston to enable fingerprint officers to check the elimination prints against the murder marks.
International news teams were amazed at the willingness of local people to support this mass fingerprinting. Unfortunately the murderer persuaded a friend to imitate his signature and assume his identity and escaped immediate detection. But later when fingerprinted for throwing a brick through a window he was identified and convicted of the murder.
Head of fingerprints Neil Denison said: "I am proud to say that West Yorkshire has the finest fingerprint bureau in the country and for that I thank my predecessors. I have inherited a skills base that is second to none." Crime File Beat the criminals from your door By Bruce Smith
Copyright 2006 Johnston Press Plc. Source: Financial Times Information Limited
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