Identify crime by scar, tattoo

An American researcher has just created an automatic image retrieval system; whereby law enforcement agencies can identify suspects and victims through scars and tattoos on the body.

According to Anil Jain, a prominent professor of computer science and architecture at Michigan State University (MSU), the project manager "is often based on information obtained from passports, documents, diplomas or identification numbers, however these documents are often susceptible to tampering, lost or stolen. "

"Therefore, documents that serve to identify criminals are often not reliable enough or lack security. People need to be identified based on physical characteristics such as fingerprints, iris or mold. This is the field of activity of biometric identification over the past 15 years. "

Biometrics is an automatic identification of a person based on his or her anatomical or behavioral characteristics. GS. Jain is taking biometric identification one step further by adding scars, marks and tattoos to specialized devices.

An example of two similar tattoos can be automatically retrieved using software developed by MSU researchers.(Photo: MSU)

'Tattoo-ID', the system that GS. Jain works on a computer software that includes a database of scars, scars and tattoos provided by law enforcement agencies. Each photo of a tattoo in the database is linked to criminal records of suspects, criminals with marks, scars or tattoos on them. Those who use this system (usually the police) enter a tattoo image query, the system will automatically return images of the most similar tattoos along with the profile of their owners.

According to GS. Jain: "The number of tattooists is growing rapidly. Up to 20% of Americans have at least 1 tattoo on them, and this number is even higher than even criminals. In fact, Many criminal gangs often have a unique member tattoo. "

"Currently, the only way to identify someone from his or her tattoo is to look at the overall size and approximate the size of the tattoo compared to the size of a book, trying to visualize, match those. Tattoos are based on a number of key points, which is very time-consuming and the process of re-processing is often inaccurate " - GS. Jain said.

However, this new identity system will compare traces or tattoos of suspects with available data with very high accuracy. Although a scar, a tattoo doesn't help identify an individual, it can help authorities narrow down the list of criminal investigations and searches.

GS. Jain added, "a body can decompose quickly, especially in adverse weather conditions, making it difficult to identify through fingerprints or faces. However, if used Tattoos are often embedded deep inside the skin, even severe burns are hard to destroy tattoos, so unique tattoos are sometimes important signs identify a criminal ".

In US law enforcement agencies have been more aware of the use of tattoos to identify suspects and criminals. This is why the FBI's Next Generation Identification device needs an automated image recovery system for scars, marks and tattoos. According to GS. Jain, "the above system will really have great social value!".

GS's research team. Jain is still working on improving the image articulation of Michigan state police identification, to provide the system with a better database of tattoos.