It’s a police tactic that uses both science and art.

From Jack the Ripper to outlaws of the wild west-- or even more recently in the case of the Golden state killer-- for hundreds of years, investigators have used sketches to try and identify offenders. 

Many early drawings were fairly crude and often they were more like artist renditions of what evil looked like versus accurate depictions of what witnesses saw. 

Over years experts have fine-tuned their techniques and even now police agencies all over the world use sketches when they don’t know who committed the crime -- when there’s no surveillance video, only witness or victim accounts.

If you enjoy Crime Beat, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends.

Contact:

Twitter: @nancyhixt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyHixtCrimeBeat/

Email: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices