reading material for portrait parle bertillon system

1.  CONTENTS: 
2.  INTRODUCTION 
3.  HISTORY OF PORTRAIT PARLE  
4. ADVANCEMENT OF BERTILLONAGE 
5.  BERTILLON CARD 
6.  TRAITS DESCRIBED IN BERTILLON CARDS  
7. DESCRIPTION OF TRAITS  
8. CASE STUDY  
9. DECLINE OF BERTILLONAGE 
10.  REFERENCES INTRODUCTION PORTRAIT PARLE:
11.  These two French words mean “speaking likeness”. 
12.  Portrait Parle can be defined as a rigorous system for verbal description of physical characteristics of the subject. It is based on the Bertillon method of criminal identification by measurements of the human body and is still in practice today to some extent. 
13. A distinctive description of every feature of the face and head are especially valuable for investigation, especially when a set of the suspect's fingerprints is not available in his file. 
14.  In order to recognize individuals who were repeatedly arrested, Bertillon developed means by which portraits could be sorted by common morphological characteristics—the specific shapes of the different parts of the face—and thus an individual’s prior photo could be found without having to resort to browsing through large collections of portraits. This classification is known as the “portrait parlé” or spoken portrait. 
15. HISTORY OF PORTRAIT PARLE  In 1882, Alphonse Bertillon, also called “Father of Scientific Detection” said that anthropology could be invoked to aid in the sight recognisation and identification of criminals.  
16. Employing these methods of scientific description, he worked out a system of identification, utilizing 11skeletal measurements which are practicably unchanged after maturity and are not affected by increase or loss of weight. Alphonse Bertillon  (1853-1914)  
17. His classification provided a basis for modern recall system that would aid the artist in producing sketches as well as the development of composite kits, catalogs and computer systems.  
18. Originally, he meant for the catalogue to be an identification aid for recognition of local prisoners but later it was found to be useful for obtaining description of unknown suspects also.  
19. Bertillon stated from the observations that human bone structure was more or less absolutely fixed by the age of 20, and that the skeleton varied tremendously in its dimensions between one person and another.  
20. Before DNA evidences-and before that, the ubiquitous adoption of finger printing- became the dominant mode in which criminals were identified by law enforcements, another form of biometric identification was widespread around the world.  
21. The portrait parle system also known as Bertillonage, had a major impact on criminology, specially in its native France.  It was not until 1882, however, that Bertillon was given the opportunity to prove the validity of his system in the eyes of the Prefect of Police.  After 3 month trial period, he was able to identify a repeat offender by proving that the man, who had just been caught on the scene of theft, had indeed been arrested sometime before. Despite using a false identity, the criminal was betrayed by his own body measurements and quickly confessed. 
22. ADVANCEMENT OF BERTILLONAGE  
23. Whereas the anthropometric system made it possible to distinguish between two distinct individuals, it did not bring irrefutable proof of an individual’s identity. 
24.  While not fully managing to fix this major flaw, Bertillon designed an incremental physical description card also called the Bertillon card, comprising of four areas:
25.  ➢ anthropometry- a field he enriched with new topological descriptions of ear, nose and iris. 
26. ➢ An incremental- a detailed physical description method which formed the basis of portrait parle. 
27. ➢ photographic description- which he continually enhanced by defining a general protocol for face. 
28. ➢ An inventory and precise mapping of all specific marks to be found on the body- scars, tattoos, moles and the like. ❑The Bertillon card included spaces for description of the prisoner’s 
29.   eyes, 
30.  ears, 
31.  lips, 
32.  beard, 
33.  hair color,
34.   skin color, 
35.  ethnicity, 
36.  forehead, 
37.  nose 
38.  chin 
39.  general contour of head 
40.  hair growth pattern 
41.  eyebrows 
42.  eyeballs and orbit 
43.  mouth 
44.  neck 
45.  inclination of shoulders 
46.  attitude  
47. Voice 
48.  language 
49.   habiliments 
50. BERTILLON CARD
51.  The Bertillon card included two photographs, one face-on and one in profile. 
52. 25 TRAITS DESCRIBED IN BERTILLON CARD: 
53.  Gender 
54.   Face shape
55.   Chin shape 
56.  Skin color
57.   Hair type (curly, wavy, straight) 
58.  Widow’s peak 
59.  Color of eyebrows 
60.  Eyebrow thickness
61.   Eyebrow placement
62.   Eye color
63.   Eye’s distance apart 
64.  Eye size 
65.  Eye shape 
66.  Eyelash length 
67.  Mouth size 
68.  Lip thickness 
69.  Nose size 
70.  Nose shape 
71.  Nostril shape 
72.  Earlobe attachment 
73.  Ear pits 
74.  Hairy ears 
75.  Cheek freckles
76.   Forehead freckles
77.   Hair color 
78. 
    
79. DESCRIPTION OF FOLLOWING FEATURES CONSIDERED IN PORTRAIT PARLE: 
80.  FACE: 
81. oblong, 
82. oval, 
83. round, 
84. rectangular, 
85. square,
86.  triangular, 
87. diamond 
88. 
    
89.  WIDOW’S PEAK: 
90.  SKIN COLOR: 
91. very fair,
92.  fair 
93. white skin, 
94. light brown, 
95. moderate brown, 
96. dark brown,
97.  deeply pigmented
98.  dark brown to black. 

1.  HAIR TYPES : 
2. straight, 
3. wavy, 
4. curly, 
5. coils, 
6. undefined coils 
7. 
   
8. 
   
9. 
   
10.  EYES:
11.  round,
12.  almond, 
13. droopy,
14.  droopy hooded, 
15. Asian, 
16. round Asian etc. 
17. 
    
18. 
    
19. EYE COLOR: 
20. gray, 
21. green,
22.  blue, 
23. honey,
24.  brown, 
25. black •
26. 
    
27.  COLOR OF EYEBROWS:
28.  black, 
29. dark red, 
30. dark brown, 
31.  medium red, brown,
32.  light red, blonde, 
33. light blonde 
34.   DISTANCE BETWEEN EYES:
35.  wide set, 
36. down turned, almond eyes, close set eyes, hooded eyes, almond eyes. 
37. 
    
38.  AVERAGE DISTANCE BETWEEN EYES: 
39. Types of eyebrows:
40.  thin, 
41. natural,
42.  thick 
43. EYE SHAPES:
44.  protruding eyes,
45.  small eyes, 
46.  sunken eyes 
47.  BEARD STYLES: 
48. hollywoodian, 
49. old dutch,
50.  ducktail, 
51. winnfield, 
52.  pencil, anchor,
53.  handlebar,
54.  super mario,
55.  mutton chops to name a few. 
56.  CHIN TYPES: 
57.  TYPES OF NOSE:
58.   NOSE LENGTH: 
59.  FOREHEAD AND CHEEK FRECKLES: 
60. EARS: 
61. large, small, ear sticking in, ear sticking out HAIRY EAR: TYPES OF LIPS: close points, flat tops, roller coaster, large lower OCCUPATIONAL MARKS: 
62. Some marks develop due to the kind of occupation performed by an individual. Some examples are given below: 
63. • Tailor: marks of pin pricks.
64.  • Dish washer: hands are rough, soddy and bigger in shape due to continuous exposure to water. • Truck driver: Corns on palm. 
65. SAMPLE BERTILLON CARDS 
66.  Bertillon card for Thomas Conway, Measurements for Thomas Conway. arrested for larceny (portraits), May 11, 1911.
67.  Bertillon card for May Walker, arrested for general theft (portraits), September 8, 1910. 
68. Bertillon card for May Walker, arrested for general theft (measurements), September 8, 1910