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Title: The Detection of Crime: An Introduction to Some Methods of Scientific Aid in Criminal Investigation with Some Illustrations of the Methods Employed in the Preservation and Examination of Matter Relevant to the Investigation
Author(s): Superintendent Walter Martyn Else, F.F.Sc., F.R.M.S.
in collaboration with Assistant Chief Constable James Main Garrow
Derbyshire Constabulary
Publisher: Office of The Police Journal
69 Great Russell St.
London
ISBN: N/A
Library of Congress:

Foreward

The progress of science is today more than ever being reflected in criminal methods. It is therefore necessary for police forces to have at their disposal the best scientific assistance if they are successfully to play their part in the detection of crime and in bringing its perpetrators to justice.

Clearly the detective officer, if he is to make the best use of scientific principles to aid him in his work, must know something of the resources and limitations of each branch of science whose help he invokes.

It is also obvious that, apart from simple investigations, he cannot take upon himself scientific enquiry or experiment and will not be expected to do so; nevertheless a knowledge of when and how to solicit assistance from science may be vital to the successful solution of his problem.

Although the course of study given to investigating officers in many forces now includes instruction in scientific matters, this must for various reasons be of necessity limited, and the officer has hitherto had to rely on his intuition for the exploring of scientific fields.

Any handbook that can concisely put before him the methods of scientific aid in criminal investigation should prove of the utmost value to him, both for tuition and reference. Superintendent Else and Assistant Chief Constable Garrow have attempted this task and I consider that their efforts should earn for them the highest praise.

This book is written for police officers by police officers, which is a very material point, and it is only by protracted experience of police work that a knowledge of what to omit and what to include is attained so that a book of reasonable dimensions is achieved.

They have tackled a very difficult subject with thoroughness, and have taken the greatest care to ensure accuracy; last, not least, they have made a very readable volume. The authors have my sincerest wishes for its success.

G. Roche Lynch, O.B.E., M.B., B.S., D.P.H., F.I.C.
Senior Official Analyst to the Home Office
Department of Chemical Pathology
St. Mary’s Hospital
Paddington, W.2.
October, 1933

Preface

Modern methods in the perpetration of crime have revealed exponents of criminology some of whom are technicians of no mean order. In the commission of every offence the offender has the tactical advantage of initiative and may commit his offences without regard to rules or regulations. The investigating officer has no such freedom of action, but on the contrary must conduct his enquiries and act in every circumstance strictly in accordance with the rules and regulations laid down for his guidance, and in every instance, to bring his case to a successful conclusion, he must be prepared to place before the Court the most ample and convincing proof of the guilt of the accused. The aspect of this handicap is, however, more apparent than real, for whilst the criminal may be playing a lone hand the investigating officer, on the other hand, has the resources of the nation upon which to rely; unfortunately, a large number of officers are even now handicapped because of their lack of knowledge of the manner in which these resources may be invoked. It now becomes more and more obvious that if future success in detection is to be ensured it behoves all who are concerned in the preservation of public safety and the security of life and property to keep abreast; or, better still, to take the steps necessary to advance their skill, knowledge and technique, to a measure far beyond that of their opponents. Everything in or of nature must obey the unchangeable laws of progression or retrogression; a state of inertia or of non-progressiveness is fatal to any undertaking. It is the aim of the authors of this work to place in as simple form as possible some of the elementary scientific methods applicable to the work of the investigator, together with an exposition of the more advanced practice of scientific technique now applied in all cases in which the aid of the expert is sought. By this means it is anticipated that police officers and members of the detective branch will gain an insight and consequent inspiration and knowledge to search for, safeguard and even prepare for examination material which in the end may prove of vital importance in the chain of evidence.

The authors’ experience of criminal investigation extends over a quarter of a century, and to their contemporaries they would say: “The former order of things has passed.” The financial aid now available for all sorts and conditions of men has closed, to a great extent, one of the avenues so fruitful of results in former years. The rapid modes of transit now in operation, and undreamt of in the days of our youthful enthusiasm, have greatly complicated the work of the detective. The spread of education has given to a host of undesirables a smattering of knowledge and a false idea of their value, and it is this type of offender who is always ready, for his own purpose, to seize and enlarge upon the foolish sentiment shown to him by a misguided section of the public.

Altogether, faced with these modern difficulties, the investigator has at all times to be a model of circumspection, and the stress of modern requirements compels him to resort more and more to the aid of science.

In the Gutteridge murder case the most convincing proof of the murderer’s connection with the crime was revealed by a microscopic comparison of the markings on the cap of the cartridge found in the abandoned car with the markings on the breech plate of one of the revolvers found in the possession of Brown, and this is only one of many instances where minute traces or particles of material have, in the hands of the expert, proved to be clues of the utmost value. How many times the average detective may have missed other such clues through ignorance of their significance no one can say, and perhaps, for his peace of mind, it is better so.

Scientific examination of matter from the scenes of crime has many varied aspects and phases and it becomes essential that the officer called upon to conduct the initial examination and investigation should not only know what may be of significance, but should also have some knowledge as to the preservation and preparation of any matter he may have occasion to submit to the expert.

In the executive branch in former days a systemized method of enquiry and procedure was invariably followed in all cases of crime and the results disclosed the efficiency of the system, but with the evolution and advancement of public ideas and requirements it has become necessary to augment the former system by the addition of knowledge of a more scientific nature. It will have been observed, particularly in the more recent cases of murder, that the aid of the scientist is becoming more and more invoked and, when it is appreciated that the aid he can render is entirely dependent on the material or matter first discovered by the investigating officer, the value of at least some elementary knowledge of science applicable to police work becomes apparent.

A further aspect of the evolutionary changes in modern investigation is one that of necessity compels intensive examination of apparently minor traces and minutiæ, for more often than not the almost infinitely small becomes of greater evidential value than the more apparent. The reason for this is not far to seek. The criminal, according to the measure of his intelligence, may well remove most or all of the traces of his crime that are apparent and may even arrange some conspicuous object or objects for the express purpose of misleading the investigator, but where his intelligence is bounded by things that are readily visible he may well neglect the minutiæ which are invisible and, therefore, incomprehensible to him. Thus he leaves available what may ultimately be of the greatest interest to the scientific witness and prove his guilt.

There is also a further aspect connected with the adoption of these methods, which has already proved beneficial not only to the police officer but to the public generally. Cases have occurred within the knowledge of the authors where science has proved beyond doubt the innocence of persons both suspected and charged with various offences, and still a further aspect connected with this system is the disclosure in some cases of the roguery of persons who, with fraudulent intent and to cover their own criminal actions, have endeavored to lead the police to believe that they have been the victims of criminal attack on their persons and property.

Every person engaged in the administration of justice and every police officer of experience is well acquainted with the frailty and uncertainty of the human element in witnesses and of their contradictory assertions, particularly in those cases where evidence is merely that of observation, whereas in those cases where the evidence is the result of expert examination of matter or material connected with the offence the expert, by reason of his knowledge and technique, may read and interpret evidence which is not the opinion of a fallible mind but is the direct and accurate interpretation of the infallible laws of nature.

In the future there will undoubtedly be an ever-widening field of usefulness in scientific technique in connection with police work. At the present moment its usefulness and certainty in criminal investigation are only bounded by lack of knowledge and, when this disability is removed, there is no doubt that acquaintance with the principles of this work will be one of the foremost recommendations for advancement in the service. It is with this end in view that the authors seek to convey to their comrades some measure of the knowledge of these subjects which may prove of interest and benefit to them, to the service and to the public generally.

Those members of the force who are subscribers to The Police Journal will already have seen an outline of the methods followed in dealing with dusts, fibres, hairs, etc., and their respective significance in cases where such matter is found. In this work we shall endeavor to show how these things are dealt with in their entirety—in passing from the hands of the investigating officer to those of the expert witness—and how the evidential sequence of the carriage of these exhibits must be observed for the satisfaction of the Court.

In cases of poisoning it will no doubt be interesting and instructive to know the procedure that should be followed from the inception of the enquiry to its conclusion.

We propose to give this and also the many aspects of the work of the expert, because by this means it is anticipated that the investigating officer will more readily understand the significance of matter found on the scene of a crime.

Considerable interest has been aroused of late by various publications calling attention to the usefulness of a scientific branch attached to the force, and in one instance the reviewer says:

“Who is the better detective - The trained policeman with all the resources of the law behind him or the scientist with his test-tubes and microscopes and his specialized knowledge - The answer is, of course, that the best detective is a combination of both.

The trouble is that in this country the police have to rely upon outside scientific help; there is no scientific staff attached to or part of any police force in the country, not even Scotland Yard.”

The foregoing criticism is one of many directed of late to present-day organization in regard to the formation of a scientific branch.

Everyone acquainted with modern crime realizes that science is a valuable asset to the investigator and, consequently, to the public, and so far as this country is concerned its greatest value for the purpose of evidence lies in the fact that in almost all cases evidence of this nature comes, not from the officer connected with the case or from an expert connected with the police, but from the expert witness who has no official connection with the police. Those acquainted with the distinction in criminal procedure in other countries as compared with that of our own will realize the importance of the continuation of a system that has repeatedly demonstrated its usefulness, the value of which, as evidence, is enhanced a hundredfold by its disinterestedness. In this connection we have yet to learn that any country or State is better served than our own. Every phase of crime to which scientific examination applies is provided for and, incidentally, the system provides a bulwark of safety for the innocent which in its certainty is equal to the sureness of detection when dealing with the actual criminal. Under these circumstances all that remains for the complete and harmonious working of the system is that every officer engaged in the investigation of crime should in some measure understand the requirements of the expert, and to that end should endeavor to become proficient in those stages of his work to which elementary science applies. Having in view this aspect of police work, together with the evolutionary changes in police practice, it is the authors’ hope that this work may in some measure create an interest and become instructive and helpful to all who may have to deal with the problem presented by modern criminality.

To the year 1929 scientific detection in the United States was carried on in a more or less tentative manner, but since that time scientific crime detection laboratories have come into being. In January-February, 1930, there appeared the first number of a bi-monthly periodical called The American Journal of Police Science (now merged with The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, published by the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, 357 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois), which, it is understood, has been circulated to the detective staffs in each State. So far as the dissemination of such knowledge assists the investigator to understand the requirements of the expert it is undoubtedly progress in the right direction, and, provided that the technicalities of the subjects dealt with are, as far as possible, brought within the understanding of the police investigator, nothing but good can result, and the public are certain to benefit materially in additional safety to life and property. There may be many to whom some of the subjects dealt with in this book will be of little interest, consisting as they do, in the first place, of a somewhat detailed description of the apparatus and accessories necessary to the work of the microscopist and, in the second, of some of the processes involved in dealing with matter submitted for examination.

Many other subjects are, however, dealt with in a manner which the authors trust may prove both interesting and helpful to the patrol and detective officer so as to serve as a guide whenever it is desired to enlist the aid of the expert.

Reference to the table of the “Contents” of the book at pages xvii to xxi inclusive will give a quick indication to the particular matter on hand in enquiry as to the methods of SEARCH, EXAMINATION, SIGNIFICANCE, INFERENCE, EVIDENTIAL VALUE, PRESERVATION, PACKING, TRANSIT, NOTES and RECEIPTS of the custody of matter for examination and all the many details consequent to successful work.

Ordinarily the skill of the officer combined with his local knowledge and insight into human motives and action is sufficient to provide for most of his needs, but in crimes of serious import successful results are usually in a ratio equal to that of the co-operation of the officer and the scientific witness and, primarily, success in any case will assuredly be governed by the intelligence displayed by the officer in the initial stages of an investigation.

A due conception of the great importance of the apparently trivial and insignificant is the first essential of good police work—in fact attention to minor detail is the keynote of success in any undertaking.

As an aid to his endeavors the officer has the whole of the resources of science upon which to rely, and where necessity demands it there should be no hesitation or timidity in invoking any of the aids which science can afford.

W.M.E.
J. M. G.

DERBY, October, 1933