Catching Criminals With a No. 2 Pencil
Jeanne Boylan is probably someone you don't know but whose work you've seen. She is one of the most sought after police sketch artists in the country.
Read her story here.
Post your answers/opinions to the following by Wednesday, November 1st:
How does Boylan's method differ from the "traditional" method of police sketching? What training does Boylan have that makes her sketches so "realistic?" What advice does she give to individuals who are eyewitness? How does this relate to our discussion of memory? What is your overall impression of the story?
posted by cldaily @ 4:30 AM
8 Comments:
Boylan's method differs from the normal way of making sketches. Instead of showing the witness a bunch of photos of body parts and having them choose which best represents the suspect she takes a more relaxing, less confusing route. She sits the witness down and has a sketch pad out of their sight which she uses to draw the suspect. She begins by asking seemingly harmless questions and then gets into more detail about tone and other things. Sometimes she wil sit with a witness for many hours until she can get everything right. She trys to keep the witness as relaxed as possible so it is easier for them to remember. She wants the information to come out of their long term memory into their short term memory in order to draw a more accurate representation of the suspect. That works better without interferance. Boylan's backround in psychology and her artistic ability makes it easier for her get the whole entire picture. Over all I think that it's amazing that she can do what she does. She is a major help to the police and I think it is really great that she helps out.
wow she can draw, i mean that is really good. her method works because she puts the people she is talking to at ease and that clears their mind. that way they can give the clearest most descripitive information to her.
Traditional methods include showing the victim a large book of suspects which distorts their memory of the actual event. Ms. Boylan's method includes talking to the victim in a relaxed situation about a lot of irrelevant things while slowly getting the information she needs from their relaxed minds. The training she has that makes her sketches so realistic is in psychology and sociology. Her advice is to write down the details and also sketch the assailant. This relates to our study because Ms. Boylan has developed her knowledge of how the mind recalls memory into something very useful. She is able to know what to ask and how to go about asking it to get the info she needs while keeping the mind of the victim relaxed enough to remember. I enjoyed reading this story and found it very interesting. Ms. Boylan has a real talent and I don’t mean her drawing. I mean her ability to sneak past the warnings we put up in our mind intended to keep harmful memories locked away and retrieve the info she needs.
Boylan's strategy is unique and requires a tremendous amount of patience. Having a background in psychology she understands that showing the victims her drawing or pictures of others - could distort their memory. They may then start to believe the attacker has the characteristics of what they were shown. She tries to relax the victims so they do not feel pressured and as a result become flustered. Her work is amazing and hopefully others in the police force are developing a gift like hers.
She has alot of talent, and its pretty amazing because not many people have that kind of talent. I think that if more police stations would use her method then many more criminals may be cought. Her schooling in psychology has very much helped her with these sketches. She knows how the mind remembers things and how it all works. she seems to understand how to make an image with only little information about the criminal and knowing all the details she uses to creat the sketch from just a basic conversation. This is truley amazing and i think it would be awsome to have talent like hers.
Boylan's method differs from the typical police sketching because she gets an insight of the person describing the criminal. She takes the time to know what the person is saying and doesn't just draw whatever to get it done with. She has an excellent memory that allows her to keep this image in her head. She is a psychologist so she uses that to help her with her sketchings. She knows that the mind doesnt recall every detail of something and therefore she gets to know the person and what they are saying in order to help her remember what she needs to draw. She doesn't show them pictures of criminals because they will form an image in their head that will chaneg their initial thoughts of the criminal. She lets the victim say what he or she remembers instead. This relates to out class discussion because we talked about the stages of memory. We have short term memormy but we wont remember it in full detail if it doesnt go to the long term memory. I was facinated by this story because she draws from her memory and what the victims tell her. Its amazing to see how she can use psycology to help her draw.
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In my opinion, if every sketch artist showed as much interest in getting accurate sketches as Jeanne does, then we would have a lot more violent criminals behind bars today. I think that its a great idea for her to have taken Psychology in order to learn how the mind and memory works because that allows her to be able to get as much information as possible out of the witness without her prying them for information. I think that by her not showing the victims the sketch this allows them to try to form a picture in their own memories instead of being suggested by the sketch artist as to what the suspect looks like. I think that every sketch artist should have to take a class taught by Jeanne in order to learn how to get the most accurate sketches possible.
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