Suspect sketches are frequently released from police departments as a way to inform the public about what a suspect might look like, but a new kind of sketch has a lot of people wondering how they were created.
"Operator generated images" by computer software are being used by more and more law enforcement agencies across the country and forensic experts believe they are not the best choice but might be the only choice.
"These computer software programs don't have a lot of options," said Sandra Enslow, a Los Angeles Country Sheriff's Department forensic artist. "A trained professional forensic artist is key."
The OGI's used stocked textures, face/nose templates and eye templates that the officer uses to put together a sketch based on the victim or witnesses information. Enslow said that often the officer is doing several jobs and is not well trained in the process.
The result might be a sketch that gains Internet popularity for the humor factor and not the real reason for the sketch.
Enslow, a 21-year veteran, noted that although OGI sketches are not ideal, they might be all the agency can afford.
Enslow said that although sketches do not solve crimes, they do assist detectives a great deal. 80 percent of her 1,000 sketches rarely make it to the public domain. Enslow said most of the time the sketches are used by detectives to rule in or rule out suspects.
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In one case, Enslow created a sketch that was a dead ringer for the suspect arrested. She started with a rape victim who had a broken jaw. She asked the victim to draw the suspects. After Enslow examined the victim's drawing she continued with an interview of the victim and completed her own sketch that even the District Attorney said was dead on.
But hand drawn sketches are hard to come by across the country. Enslow said there are only about 300 trained artists nationwide and most law enforcement agencies cannot afford to used them for most cases.
As a result, the computer generated software has gained popularity.
