The Forensic Artist

Progressive Crime Fighting And Artistic Support

By Detective Stephen A. Fusco  

Composite Artistry

  In today's modern and technologically driven police departments the computer rules.  Information is power, and databases assist detectives in sifting through thousands of names and cases.  However, when it comes to composite art nothing can compare with a motivated and skilled forensic artist.  Computers definitely have their place in the forensic art field, however composites need versatility for constantly changing hairstyles, scars, facial deformities, and tattoos (which can be seemingly endless in varieties). What is a forensic artist?  What dose the artist do for composites that the trustee computer can't do better, and faster?  The answer is - versatility. 

  A forensic artist is first and foremost a composite artist.  When a crime occurs and little or no evidence exists but, a witness, or victim saw the suspect, a forensic artist can use their drawing skills to develop a suspect's likeness. One could argue that today's computer-developed composites are easier, faster, and more consistent.  Anyone can create one with a computer, right? Not true, and I can point out from my years of experience, composite art is best done by a competent forensic artist.  A forensic artist uses more than drawing skills to develop a composite of a suspect.  A well-trained forensic artist is also skilled at interview. 

  Most police agencies, to include the FBI, like to get more bang for their buck, and rightfully so.  These days everyone needs to be thrifty with a dollar.  Therefore, it is not uncommon to find agencies that prefer their officers being multitalented, and multi-trained, to better serve the public they watch over.  This is a good thing. Yet, one concern I have is when agencies train detectives to use computer software, or plastic overlays, to do composites.  My concern comes when detectives only use this training once or twice a year to do a composite in one of their cases and, through no fault of their own, they don't do it right because they forgot what they were taught.  The solution is to train one person, preferably a person who has artistic talents, to use the computer software.  Use this trained person exclusively for composites so they can gain experience and competency with interview and composite techniques.   Of course, ideally administrators should find someone within their ranks with the artistic aptitude for hand drawn composites, send the employee to a forensic artist class, and allow that person to be a part-time forensic artist. A part-time forensic artist, who does 6-12 composites a year, can prepare a much more effective likeness of a suspect, and be more efficient, than anyone who receives training on a computer and then only uses it once or twice a year.

  In 1990 I was working as a part-time forensic artist for a small agency.  My primary job was working major cases as a detective.  In a small agency you wear many hats.  One day you may be wearing your sex crimes investigator hat, the next day you may wear your robbery hat.  On this one particular occasion I was wearing my robbery hat.  I was attending a local robbery intelligence meeting.  I had been a part-time forensic artist since 1989, and was building a reputation. I was talking with some detectives from another agency when one of them asked me, "so what do you do that’s so great (referring to forensic art), that our Identikit (a plastic overlay composite kit) can't do?" I told him "I draw bad guys."  I convinced them to call me next time they had a major case.  About two months later I received a call from this detective.  They had been working a shooting at one of their local establishments.  The victim was shot in the face.  Investigators had used their Identikit one-week after the incident with a witness but they were not happy with the results.  Two weeks after the incident I worked with the same witness and developed a likeness of the suspect.  The witness stated the composite looked just like the suspect.  The detective had the composite copied and handed it out to the road patrol officers.  Three days later, a rookie officer saw the suspect and recognized he was a dead ringer for the composite.  The suspect was stopped and detained until investigators could be called.  The suspect was subsequently interviewed and confessed to the crime and was ultimately convicted.  To this day this agency uses my services whenever they have a major case. Most forensic artists are willing to assist other agencies because the more they draw, the more they stay sharp for major cases.  Forensic art is just like anything else, the more you do the better you get.  Administrators understand the advantage of practice and generally support loaning their artist to other departments.  I personally do composites for 15 other agencies, to include the FBI and FDLE.  

  Composites are successful in generating leads and closing cases with arrests.  The key factor is the witness.  How good did they see the suspect?  How well can they remember?  What was the lighting condition?  How much trauma (physical and/or mental) was the witness subjected to?  Is there any post-traumatic stress?  Witnesses are always apprehensive about doing composites.  In their minds, they don't want to make mistakes and convict the wrong person.  Now the ball is in the artist's court.  The artist has to explain the process involved to crate a composite.  We need to make the witness understand we don't expect a portrait.  I always tell the witness I know recall is harder than recognition, which is why we use visual aids.  I always tell them the pressure is on me to do a good drawing.  Once I calm a victim down and explain the process, I have a line drawing done in usually 15 minutes.

You never know what's going to happen.  In another case, working as a part-time artist/ part-time sex crimes investigator for the Sheriff's Office, I was called by a small agency to do a composite for a victim of an exposure case.  The victim was rollerblading on the bike trail when the suspect jumped out of some bushes and exposed himself.  The Sheriff's Office has a large sex crimes unit, with one detective who specializes in exposure cases, so I took him with me to do the composite.  I met with the victim, and created a composite.  I was looking at the finished composite when I recognized the suspect.  I had worked in the neighboring city for 15 years, nine as an investigator.  I told the detective sitting with me "I know this guy, he lives in that area."  "Yeah right," he said.  So, we drove to the nearest sub station, created a photo-line up, and then drove back to the victim.  The victim quickly identified the suspect.  We turned the case over to the agency that had jurisdiction, they got a warrant for the suspect, and arrested him.  Case closed.  

Composite 

Defendant  

  Artistic Support

  The computer has its place in forensic artwork.  I don't think a forensic artist could do the job without a computer. Forensic artists provide numerous functions for an agency such as, but not limited to, composites, age progression drawings (of missing persons or fleeing felons), and skull reconstruction's of unknown murder victims.  These functions are done by hand drawings and special techniques that cannot be duplicated by computer software yet, in other cases an artist might use computer software to photo-edit a suspect's photograph so it can be used in a photo line-up.  Professional looking forms and logos can be created with artist software, as well as paintings, renderings, diagrams and illustrations.  Computers are a fantastic way to scan, catalog, and reproduce hand drawn forensic art.   In 1995 I was hired as a forensic artist by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, in Orlando Florida.  I worked as a part-time sex crimes detective and part-time forensic artist.  In 1997 I became the Sheriff's Office's first full-time forensic artist.  It was a new program, and I wanted to do a lot of other things besides the obvious.  I like being an artist.  I like using various mediums and I like making a difference.  Being a police officer for twenty plus years I have learned the importance of statistics to justify everything you do.  One of the first things I did was build a monthly stats (statistics) form to show my supervisors what I've been doing.  It also provides my supervisor with a way to evaluate my performance and justify my existence.  Being a full-time forensic artist is huge honor because they are rare positions.  I only know of three full-time forensic artist positions in the state.  There aren’t more than a couple dozen part-time artists in this state.

  One of the first large projects I planned was a forensic artist web site.  I know the future is going to have a lot to do with the Internet, and not knowing much about creating web sites, I solicited the assistance of one of the detectives I worked with, John Binks, who has a good working knowledge of web site creation.  As it turns out, Binks is extremely gifted at making web sites, so much so that some time after creating my site he was given a position of agency web-master.  It pays to surround yourself with good qualified people.  My father used to say, "show me your friends, I'll show you who you are."  Another point I would like to make is, you can always seek assistance from more experienced sources. I find you can learn from their experience, and your work product will be a couple of notches above what you would have done on your own.

  The forensic artist web site started with the idea that we wanted to get the composites, and other forensic art, to people who might recognize the suspects.  I also wanted to create a bulletin look so the detectives could print bulletins from the net.  We decided we also wanted to inform anyone who would visit the site about the workings of forensic art.   We worked for over a month designing the site.  Detective Binks created this information forum and built it into the web site as a way for forensic artists to interact all around the world.  We presented the finished product to the Sheriff and his staff, who were very supportive of the project.

As a full-time forensic artist I have to create productive and agency worthy work to fill in the void when no priority forensic art is in demand.  This is noteworthy because artists need to make themselves available for the priority work such as composites for victims of major cases.  At times this needs to be done at a moment's notice. The way to stay productive and busy is to have agency worthy work to fill in when no priority work exists.  This may be logos, special projects, memorial portraits, and things that can be put aside when priority work becomes available.  I call this type of work "artistic support."  Artistic support is my favorite type of forensic art because it's self-expressive.  An artist can use his artistic skills in numerous mediums and experiment with new mediums.  Artistic support projects challenge artists to learn new skills and build confidence in old skills.  

Advice for people who want to become forensic artists

  I get e-mails all the time from people interested in becoming forensic artists.  This is what I tell them;

I recommend you find a forensic artist in your local area, you might check my "contacts" page of my web site. Call the artist and see if you can sit in on a composite, or just sit and interview them at their office.  Forensic art has very few full time positions.  Like anything else you have to establish a reputation with law enforcement before you are accepted.  Police administrators are tough nuts to crack!  Most of the forensic artists I know work in law enforcement, whether it be civilian or sworn.  There are civilian positions to be had so, don't be discouraged.  One of the best forensic artists I know is a civilian.  Her name is Karen Taylor.  She works for the Texas dept of public safety.   She authored a book on forensic art and developed the standard for 2 dimensional facial reconstruction from skulls.   I suggest you have at least a basic class in composite art before applying as a civilian.  Any collage courses or art school experience is a huge benefit, however your personal aptitude and desire are more important than your background.  As one of only three full time forensic artists in the state of Florida, I have had no formal art training before becoming a police artist. Of course, the more you have the better.  There are other important basics you should have such as interview training, for example.  This should be done before you make yourself available to law enforcement.  I can't emphasize enough the importance of the interview before, and during the composite drawing.  There is much to be learned from a basic composite technician's class.  I suggest you check my web site chat area to ask about training classes in basic and advanced composite art in your area.

There is training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va. But is very hard to get into. This is the best training I have received, however there are limited positions in the class. The class is held once every year, and sometimes they skip a year. The FBI is federally mandated to provide training to local law enforcement. There is a waiting list due to limited positions.  Civilian employees of law enforcement agencies are accepted but sworn officers have priority.  However, the Scottsdale Art School in Scottsdale Arizona has basic and advanced courses in forensic art. This is costly to the student but the same instructors at the FBI Academy teach at Scottsdale. Scottsdale Art School toll-free number 800-333-5707 or 602-990-1422. You can locate training through organizations like the International Association for Identification (IAI) <http://www.theiai.org/>.

If you have artist experience it would help your credibility with local law enforcement. You need to deal directly with the detectives because, they're the ones who'll be calling you. You may have to do the work for free for a while so they can see the benefit of it. Otherwise, you could be turned away due to budget restraints and uninformed administrators. Departments would rather purchase a computer program to cut corners. Don't get discouraged! I'll tell you now from someone who knows, a forensic artist is better than the computer program at composite art. Another option is starting a new career in law enforcement as an officer, and selling your artistic talents as a forensic artist as a bonus. Administrators would love that but the pay for starting cops is not always desirable. You may not get a chance to go full time as a forensic artist for numerous reasons, like no position in the budget, not enough work load to justify a full time slot, or the chief may not believe in forensic artists. There are other jobs within law enforcement agencies that do not require you to be a certified officer, like secretary, forensics, crime-scene, etc. 

After you get some training you need to make yourself available to one or
more law enforcement agencies, the more the better. I wrote letters to every agency within 40 miles. As a composite artist you have to be available, day and night
sometimes. You may try a job as a dispatcher, crime scene technician, secretary, and heck you may want to be a cop. I have been a police officer for
twenty years and I like it.  As a police officer/forensic artist you are accepted more easily than the civilian artist. You get to poke your nose into investigations and help out in places where others only imagine themselves being. A police officer is a member of a national/international brotherhood. I've been told to my face by an investigator just recently "Oh, I didn't know you were a sworn police officer, we all thought you were civilian or we would have used you sooner. We will use you more often now."  I like to think I make a difference in major cases because of my art but I feel my investigative experience is a big advantage. It always helps to have contacts with people who can vouch for your work.  It takes a long time to build a reputation so, start today.

You can find some insight about forensic art on my web site at this link;
 
If you want to you can call my office (407) 254-7122 x70687 I'd be happy to talk
to you.