Now, a software to help police fight crime

The following information is used for educational purposes only.


Now, a software to help police fight crime
ANI | Sep 12, 2011

LONDON: A new generation of computer technology is revolutionising crime fighting by creating startlingly accurate pictures of wanted criminals.

The latest police photo-fit computer program called EvoFIT is the brainchild of Charlie Frowd, an academic from the University of Central Lancashire, and Peter Hancock, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Stirling.

Traditional facial composite systems have operated by asking victims and witnesses to remember key features such as the nose and eyes in isolation, but EvoFIT allows the witness to distil the features and face of the assailant and filter out any extraneous thoughts or images that may intrude as you work your way through the process, reports the Daily Mail.

The software was first deployed by the Lancashire Constabulary in 2008 and currently 11 police forces in the UK use the system, including the Metropolitan Police. The results from laboratory tests and performance in the field with officers have been remarkably similar.

One of the most spectacular results for EvoFIT was in tracking down a rapist who had been linked to two attacks in Manchester in 2009 and 2010. The victims helped Greater Manchester Police piece together a facial composite that eventually led to the arrest and conviction of 21-year-old fast-food worker Asim Javed.

"If you look at the EvoFIT and the photo of Javed they look virtually identical," said Frowd.

"We are now approaching a 50 per cent [arrest rate]. I think that is remarkable when you bear in mind that the earlier systems were often getting results of less than ten per cent," he added.

Beverley Hunt, a facial identification officer with Derbyshire Police, has used E-Fit and another identification system called PRO-fit, but believes EvoFIT offers police forces the best way forward.

"We've used EvoFIT for three years and in that time it's really evolved. You have a wide database of age, gender and race, with a brilliant Eastern European database, for instance," she said.

Source: India Times