Gregory Saville:

"This book is a breakthrough for the science of crime and prevention and for the criminological enterprise – both academic and practitioner. Osborne has made a contribution of considerable weight. This is a book you should read."

Qualitative Crime Pattern Identification

Thursday, July 4, 2024

Consider: What was the Robber Wearing?

The suspect description in a robbery can be useful in linking crimes into a possible pattern. Sometimes the suspect wears the same items over and over again, such as in the case of a robbery series of fast food restaurants where the suspects wore an orange coat.

Hats, footwear, shirts with logos, and glasses are exmaples of things people repeatedly wear, but sometimes other clothing and accessories show up in more than one crime in a pattern. 

From the book Elements of Crime Patterns:

Example clothing and accessories variables:

Hat: color, style, logos, ornaments, how it is worn (bill forward, backward, to one side), (baseball cap, beanie, fedora, headscarf, hijab, sunhat) 

Coat: color, style, hood, buttons, fasteners, pockets (suit coat, jacket, topcoat, overcoat)

Shirt/Sweatshirt/Blouse/Dress: color, design, pattern, sleeves, collar, buttons, fasteners, length

Trousers/Pants/Slacks/Skirt: color, pattern, style, cuffs, buttons, fasteners, length

Belts/Suspenders: color, buckles, style

Leggings/Tights/Socks: note color, pattern, length

Footwear: color, style, brand name for sneakers, laces, condition, (shoes, sneakers, boots, sandals, clogs, crocs)

Accessories: sweater, scarf, gloves, necktie, sunglasses, glasses, purse, bag, backpack, briefcase, fanny-pack

Jewelry: rings (note what finger worn on), watch (note what arm worn on), bracelets, necklaces, ankle bracelet piercing jewelry, earrings, nose ring, pins

Clothes General Appearance: neat or sloppy, clean or dirty,  rips, tears, stains in clothing – note location, worn-out shoes/sneakers

Oddities: clothing too large or too small, odd colors, patchwork, badges

Layering of clothes

Facial covering


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