Cumbria Constabulary has introduced the new technology to help victims and witnesses identify offenders by exploiting the fact that the human brain is better at recognising a face than describing it.
The new system has been used for the first time by a team of Barrow officers investigating a robbery that occurred in April this year. A 17 year old boy was approached by the offender while he was sitting on a bench on Fell Street, Barrow at 2.30pm on 8th April 2010. The offender approached the victim from behind, shoved him and made off with a Nintendo DS console that the victim was playing on.
To boost their re-appeal for information, trained detectives have worked closely with the victim to put together a moving image of the potential offender.
Richard San Jose, Cumbria Constabulary’s Scientific Support Manager said: “Previous identification systems require a witness to choose from a menu of features, such as a crooked mouth or a pointy nose. EvoFIT, on the other hand, offers up a gallery of faces on a computer screen and then, based on witness choices, 'evolves' a face that resembles the offender.
“This is an exciting new system which we hope will greatly enhance criminal investigations around the county. Our communities are incredibly supportive of our work and by providing officers with the best available tools; we hope to generate even better responses from the public.”
DC Sarah McArthur who is leading the robbery investigation said: “We have been working hard to trace the person responsible for this crime which left the victim shaken and understandably upset and hope this new system will help.
“I’d like to re-appeal to members of the community to take a look at this EvoFit and see if you can help us trace the offender. Does he look familiar? Does this resemble somebody you know?
“The victim describes the offender as around 6ft tall, of a very slim build, with shaven dark hair and olive skin. He was wearing a black tracksuit top and black tracksuit pants at the time of the offence.
“Please take a long hard look at the image and call us with any information.”
Anyone who thinks they can help police with the investigation to contact Barrow CID immediately on 0845 33 00 247 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
More information about EvoFIT technology: Dr Charlie Frowd, who developed the software with colleagues from the Psychology department at the University of Central Lancashire, explained that the EvoFit system does not require the witness or victim to recall specific features, but allows them to select from recognisable shapes and 'breed' an image of the offender. Once the shape of the face and features resemble their memory of the offender they can manipulate the shape by ageing the face or adding weight, until they recognise the finished result.
The program works by trained detectives showing the victim a series of 70 faces selected for gender and ethnicity on a computer screen. Of these, the victim chooses the six that most resemble the offender. Using more than 80 variables that relate to either facial shape or texture, the program merges, or 'breeds,' the selected images and almost instantly comes up with 70 variations of the original six. The victim picks another six faces, and so on. After four or five rounds, EvoFIT produces a portrait the victim recognises.
Four detectives across the county undertook initial training and the system is now available to use during appropriate investigations in Cumbria.
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