Here is a thumbnail photo of the diagram I designed and have used for many years.
I drew this diagram using the combined methods of both Tom Brown Jr. and
Jack Kearney.
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When I first started to keep sketches of suspect footprints, there were no forms or diagrams specifically used by Police Departments. Additionally, No one in New Jersey Law Enforcement had ever testified in court using a drawing of a suspect's footprint. However, the NJ Courts were beginning to recognize the evidential value of a tracking dog, thanks to an old acquaintance, Mark Weber from Union County. He was the first dog handler in NJ to have a man convicted of arson, based solely on the track of his bloodhound.
However, there can be no loss of continuity in the track or the evidential value
is useless. This means that the dog has to have his nose on the ground from
start to finish without any mistakes or confusion or suggestion that he may
have lost the track for any period of time. And, as we all know, there is
seldom a track that goes smoothly, let alone perfect!
So, I decided to put the diagram to the test, but I needed to add a few details
to it in order to give it more validity in a courtroom. I now called the final draft
a "SUSPECT FOOTPRINT PROFILE".
The Footprint Profile is a collection of information obtained from witnesses,
physical evidence and the tracker's observations while on the track.
Most experts in Latent Fingerprint Identification and Classification will tell
you that they need 5 to 8 points of reference in court to confirm a match
between 2 sets of prints. Well, The idea here is not much different.
There are as many as 23 points of reference that can be applied to the
Suspect Footprint Profile:
1- Race
13- Shirt
2- Sex 14- Pants
3- Height 15- Jacket
4- Weight 16- Shoes
5- Hair Color 17- Hat
6- Hair Length 18- Stride
7- Injuries 19- Straddle
8- Mental Health 20- Length of Shoe
9- Physical Health 21- Width of Shoe
10- Name 22- Shoe pitch Left
11- Age 23- Shoe Pitch Right
12- Date of Birth
2- Sex 14- Pants
3- Height 15- Jacket
4- Weight 16- Shoes
5- Hair Color 17- Hat
6- Hair Length 18- Stride
7- Injuries 19- Straddle
8- Mental Health 20- Length of Shoe
9- Physical Health 21- Width of Shoe
10- Name 22- Shoe pitch Left
11- Age 23- Shoe Pitch Right
12- Date of Birth
Numbers 18, 19, 20, 21,22 and 23 are the references that are the most critical to identify while on the track. These 6 references alone with even partial shoeprints, will carry considerable weight in court as circumstantial evidence.
Everything else is gravy!
One of the other benefits that came from doing these Footprint Profile Diagrams
was that I now began to see similarities in profiles from several crime scenes that had otherwise not been linked together by any other evidence .In other words, I
now realized that the same guy was responsible for more than one crime and I
could prove it!
Here are some of my original rough notes that I have collected over the years. Please forgive me as I had to remove some of the information on the reports
because my own department has not given me permission to release the information.
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This particular suspect was an ex-police officer who chose burglary as his new career. He was solely responsible for approximately 30 burglaries over the course
of 4 months in several towns. He did not leave any fingerprints at any of the crime Scenes. Thanks to a neighboring Police Department, he was picked up on an unrelated charge and found in possessing of stolen property. As you can see in the photo, he wore a pair of L.A. Gear sneakers. The Footprint Profile Diagrams were the only thing that tied him to the burglaries. It gave us an idea where to start.
This next Footprint Profile was that of a young man who had committed more than 15 burglaries that I know of. He was so good that the victims did not realize they had been burglarized for 2 or 3 days and in a few cases, 2 weeks. I am sure that there were a few that were never reported.
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This kid was quiet, clean and quick. He always entered and left the neighborhood through the backyards, never using the street where he might be seen and he never left fingerprints. It took me a long time to get inside his head, but the thing that got me there was the Footprint Profile.
Here is what I got out of it!
1-
He had relatively small feet. Could be young, could be female.
2- His straddle was only 3 inches wide, which means he was very narrow in
the hips. This goes along with his shoe size and suggest a small person.
3- His stride was 17 inches, which puts him at about 6 feet tall. Now it's
not making sense, unless he's a young man who has started to sprout up,
but is still narrow in the hips.
4- The burglaries always occurred between 7pm and 9mp, when the families were most likely to leave the house. (Dinner, Shopping, Movies)
5- Access to the house was always gained by way of a second floor window.
6- The tracks to the house and from the house always went into the back
yards, not out to the street.
7- The track always comes from a corner of the yard, (large yards), where
the corners of 4 yards intersect. At that location there was evidence that
he stood for long periods. This was how he picked the house. From this
position he could watch 4 houses. The family that left first was the one
that got hit.
8- When the suspect came to a fence and jumped or climbed it, there was
never any evidence that he dropped or placed the proceeds on the ground. This suggested that he used a backpack or similar bag.
CLICK TO
ENLARGE
Again, no fingerprints, but the track profile and shoe prints are identical.
Here yet is another situation where the Track Profile Diagram became a
critical piece of evidence. The witness to this burglary, who was standing
outside when the suspect climbed out the window, swore that there was only
one suspect and no one else. The evidence at the scene said differently.
I found 2 sets of prints. and the one on the right showed me that again,
I was dealing with a long lanky young male. He had big feat, real narrow
at the hips, but his stride was 24 inches long at a fast walk. That suggested that he was well over 6 feet tall.
CLICK TO
ENLARGE
Snap tracked this kid down, right to his house. The funny thing was that there was another kid with him who was wearing a pair of sneakers that matched the pattern I found at the crime scene. We arrested them both, but not because
we had a witness.
2- His straddle was only 3 inches wide, which means he was very narrow in
the hips. This goes along with his shoe size and suggest a small person.
3- His stride was 17 inches, which puts him at about 6 feet tall. Now it's
not making sense, unless he's a young man who has started to sprout up,
but is still narrow in the hips.
4- The burglaries always occurred between 7pm and 9mp, when the families were most likely to leave the house. (Dinner, Shopping, Movies)
5- Access to the house was always gained by way of a second floor window.
6- The tracks to the house and from the house always went into the back
yards, not out to the street.
7- The track always comes from a corner of the yard, (large yards), where
the corners of 4 yards intersect. At that location there was evidence that
he stood for long periods. This was how he picked the house. From this
position he could watch 4 houses. The family that left first was the one
that got hit.
8- When the suspect came to a fence and jumped or climbed it, there was
never any evidence that he dropped or placed the proceeds on the ground. This suggested that he used a backpack or similar bag.
One
day I got lucky. I went to A residence to take a report of burglary.
This house was located next to a large golf course. It so happened that
the houses that had been previously burglarized, were on the other side
of the golf course.
When I arrived, the resident stated that her son was removed from the house
a few days age and she changed the locks. He has a drug problem and was caught stealing from his mother's purse. This day when she came home, she found that several pieces of jewelry were missing and an upstairs bedroom window was found open. I took one look at the windowsill and realized my hard work and efforts were about to pay off. There was that darn sneaker print again. This time though, I had a name to go with it and had enough profile evidence to tell me which jobs were his. He was eventually picked up and we cleared allot of burglaries that day.
This next photo shows 2 Profile Reports for burglaries that occurred on the same day, but on opposite sides of town, 10 miles apart.
When I arrived, the resident stated that her son was removed from the house
a few days age and she changed the locks. He has a drug problem and was caught stealing from his mother's purse. This day when she came home, she found that several pieces of jewelry were missing and an upstairs bedroom window was found open. I took one look at the windowsill and realized my hard work and efforts were about to pay off. There was that darn sneaker print again. This time though, I had a name to go with it and had enough profile evidence to tell me which jobs were his. He was eventually picked up and we cleared allot of burglaries that day.
This next photo shows 2 Profile Reports for burglaries that occurred on the same day, but on opposite sides of town, 10 miles apart.
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Again, no fingerprints, but the track profile and shoe prints are identical.
Here yet is another situation where the Track Profile Diagram became a
critical piece of evidence. The witness to this burglary, who was standing
outside when the suspect climbed out the window, swore that there was only
one suspect and no one else. The evidence at the scene said differently.
I found 2 sets of prints. and the one on the right showed me that again,
I was dealing with a long lanky young male. He had big feat, real narrow
at the hips, but his stride was 24 inches long at a fast walk. That suggested that he was well over 6 feet tall.
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Snap tracked this kid down, right to his house. The funny thing was that there was another kid with him who was wearing a pair of sneakers that matched the pattern I found at the crime scene. We arrested them both, but not because
we had a witness.
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