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The Passing of the Bertillon System of Identification

1915; Volume: 6; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/1132744

2160-0023

Raymond B. Fosdick,

Historical and Scientific Studies

In the death of Alphonse Bertillon, in February, 1914, the anthropometric method of identification probably suffered its final blow. For a decade his prestige and personality were the only supports of a system that in Europe, at least, had been fast losing ground. Persistently, even stubbornly, he endeavored to save the method which was the product of his genius and which bore his name, but he lived to see it discarded in nearly every country in Europe except his own. And even in France, now that the weight of his influence and his really compelling personality are gone, it is doubtful whether his system of identification will be continued. To realize the significance of this fact, it is necessary first to understand the importance of a system of identification in the problem of crime detection. Intelligent police action is today based primarily on criminal files. Detectives and magistrates alike must be acquainted with the criminal propensities of specific individuals; they must be armed with accurate knowledge of the past records of those whom they arrest or suspect. Such records as these, however, classified merely by names, do not in themselves furnish an infallible instrument. Without an accurate method of identification, the simple invention of an alias or any other disguise will, if undetected, invalidate the entire system. Indeed, the usefulness of criminal records depends upon the ability of the police to fasten upon each human being an identity from which he cannot escape. Criminals must be differentiated from the rest of the population as well as from each other. Means must be discovered to prevent a person guilty of crime from losing or destroying his identity. Formerly the police were forced to depend on descriptions and photographs, but these methods proved by no means reliable, for the modern criminal is an adept in altering his personal appearance. More certain methods were essential, and for years the science of crime detection concerned itself largely with the search for an infallible system of identification.