Faces of Evil

by Lois Gibson

  3) Paper.

  The best paper for compositry, if you are using graphite pencil, would be a Bristol board with a vellum finish. This is an outstanding paper that can withstand lots of erasures and changes.

  If you are working with pastels, I recommend you use Canson Mi Tientes paper in a middle tone of gray. Keep different shades of gray pastels, from the darkest to tooth-white on hand, for use in making changes quickly and simply.

  4) To easel or not to easel.

  As with medium choice, artists tend to guard fiercely their choice of whether or not to work with an easel when doing forensic sketches. I like to use an easel and I’ll tell you why.

  First, when using an easel, I have both hands free. I don’t have to use one hand to balance or hold the drawing board.

  Second, the easel creates a nice barrier between the artist and the witness, which makes the witness feel more protected from being touched or even from being seen.

  Third, the light attachment at the top of the easel is indispensable. It makes the work much easier to do and frankly, makes the drawing look better when the witness views it.

  And fourth, with an easel, I can attach my visual aids to the sides of the board while I’m drawing, which keeps them out of the way but readily visible to me. I’m also able to do a better copy of the feature chosen by the witness, which makes a better sketch overall.

  Not only that, but it enables me to draw much faster, which means we get through quicker and the witness has an easier time of it.

  I use an aluminum Stanrite 500 easel that can be folded into a four-foot long “T” shape and weighs only seven pounds. This makes it easily portable for packing or for carrying out on house calls.

  The light that attaches to the top of my easel has a three-foot long gooseneck, which allows it to be aimed anywhere and is easily adjusted for use in any situation. Remember, you are not always drawing from the comfort of an office. Sometimes you are called upon to go into witness’s homes, which may be poorly-lit, or are asked by police to do drawings in odd places like storerooms, where all you’ve got is a single fluorescent light overhead, or beside a hospital bed where the room is kept in shadow.

  Having your own light source is an invaluable aid.

  5) Those tricky tattoos.

  I could spend two or three pages here describing how to draw tattoos, but I’ll confine it to simply giving one invaluable tip: order a catalogue. (The resource is listed at the back of the book.)

  Basically, you photocopy the tattoo picked out by the witness, blow it up and sketch it onto whatever body part is needed. For more information than that, you will have to do some studying on your own through a class or from books.

  In addition, one good way to find good pictures of vehicles described by witnesses is to subscribe to Consumer Reports magazine (also listed in the resources). Each April issue contains photos of all vehicles from that year.

  For hats and caps, it’s a good idea to take snapshots of someone you know wearing various examples and have the photographs on-hand.

  Finally, for eyeglasses and sunglasses—get a catalogue from your local optometrist.

  In the resources, because this is a short section, I’ve listed places where you can take forensic art classes, which will most likely cover all this information in great detail.

  6) Most common composite sketch mistakes.

  We’re getting into territory here where it would help if you had some classroom instruction. Remember, check the resources I’ve listed including schools where forensic art is taught. Here I can only provide guidelines.

  Let me reiterate that it is very possible to provide a sketch that only bears a faint resemblance to the perpetrator that, nonetheless, leads directly to a capture. However, the more realistic your sketch, the better the chance the criminal will be caught.

  So it would behoove you to watch for these mistakes and try to train yourself not to make them:

  Irises too big

  Eyes too big

  Nose too long or nose outlined

  Lips outlined

  General lack of three-dimensional look—usually due to poor shading technique

  The main thing you need to realize here is that it is much harder to get facial proportions right when you are drawing from witness memory. It’s hard enough to do a portrait from life or from a photograph, but doing it piecemeal from witness memory is really tough.

  I advise beginning forensic artists to do everything possible to make their sketches look like normal human faces. Get schooling where and when you can, read and learn from books like this one and practice, practice, practice.

  Oh—and don’t be too hard on yourself. Sometimes I look at some of my earlier work and shake my head in wonder that the police caught the criminal at all. I have learned that it takes time and practice to get good. Persevere and you’ll get there.

  How to pull faces from memory and the almighty interview.

  Techniques to help a reluctant witness to remember.

  1) Relax the witness. Do everything that you can do to put the witness at ease. You start, of course, by projecting a calm and quiet demeanor yourself. If you fidget, glance at your watch, tap or kick your foot, bite your nails, or otherwise act as if you’re in a hurry or in a rush to get to the next appointment, this will automatically cause the witness to tense up.

  You should have an idea as to approximately how much time you’re going to need to get a good sketch and it sometimes helps to schedule a little extra time around that framework, just in case. Then, the trick is to learn to draw very quickly, without looking as though you are rushing.

  It helps to tell witnesses that, the more they relax, the easier it will be for them to remember and the better the sketches will be. They’ll watch you for cues. If you appear calm and unhurried, it will help them to let down their guard.

  Finally, take away the burden of the task from them. Tell the witnesses or victims you will do all the work, that the drawing is not their problem and reassure them—from the beginning—that they needn’t worry that the drawing be perfect or look exactly like the perpetrator. Explain that no one does a perfect sketch, but that the drawing will be good and that anything they can remember would help.

  2) Understand what the witness “sees” in his or her mind. When forming a picture of someone’s face in the mind’s eye, the image appears only for a matter of a fraction of a second or, at most, a few seconds. Then the image fades and must be brought forth again. Even though the witness can bring the image back again hundreds of times, it will continue to fade after only moments.

  If you tell witnesses that everyone’s visual memory works like that, then they will feel normal and they will understand that their visual memories are not somehow inferior. Reassure them that thousands of successful composite sketches have been produced from this memory process.

  3) Never argue with witnesses or victims when they insist that they don’t remember. One of the things you must remember is that most crime witnesses are in the throes of one form or another of post-traumatic stress. And one of the symptoms of this stress is obsessing over details of the crime, or something related to the crime. Also, people who have been traumatized become frustrated very easily and tend to lash out or otherwise vent. Some cry, but some just get very angry very quickly.

  As long as you understand upfront that this process not only has nothing to do with you—the artist—but is an expected and even necessary part of the healing process, then you will be able to sit and let your witness or victim vent.

  Many times they repeat statements like, “I don’t know why you think I can do this,” or, “It was too quick,” or, “All I saw was the gun,” or, “I was too scared,” and so on.

  Never argue with these kinds of statements. First, accept in your own mind that what they are saying is highly unlikely. Just don’t believe them. Secondly, understand that these objections are necessary for them to be able to relax, which is what you want.

  4) What to
say when witnesses or victims insist they did not see the face. Remember “Blind Justice,” when the witness was so adamant that she hadn’t seen the suspect that she shouted at me through the whole session? I just remained calm and I said things like, “Why don’t you pick out a hairstyle that resembles that of the man you saw?”

  Even the most reluctant witnesses will usually comply without thinking and you’re on your way.

  In the case of Officer Paul Deason, who had been shot, run over and dragged—he insisted that he had only seen the gun. Remember that I dropped the subject after that and spoke of things like how wonderful it was that he had survived, then commented, “What kind of a person would do such a thing? What kind of expression did he have?”

  When Paul told me that the shooter’s eyes had been “empty,” and, “It looked like he didn’t care about anything,” then I knew he’d seen his face.

  Anytime a witness or victim can answer the expression question, it means he has seen the face.

  Another good tool to use is simply to ask about the perpetrator’s hair. The hair—or baldness—is the feature most often remembered. If they can describe the hair, it usually indicates that they have, indeed, seen the face.

  Ease up to the subject and when the victim or witness gets upset, back off, talk about other things, then come at it another way. The thing is, their conscious minds have covered over with emotion what their unconscious, rational minds did see and remember. All you have to do is find ways to reveal those glimpses.

  I guarantee that the most reluctant witness will be surprised to find how much they do remember. And don’t forget—many times, even a sketch that does not closely resemble a suspect can still get him caught. Remind the witness of that whenever you can, until they relax.

  And remember, when you’ve managed to coax a usable description from the most reluctant witness, DO NOT blurt out something like, “I thought you said you didn’t see his face!”

  Just be thankful you got a good sketch.

  The Interview.

  Hundreds of thousands of artists can draw a face. The talent that sets forensic art apart from any other kind is the interview.

  The task of pulling information out of sometimes distraught or shut down witnesses is so difficult that most artists won’t even consider entering into this profession. Sadly, those who do often limit themselves to doing a few sketches a year, simply because the activity can be so frustrating and uncomfortable for them.

  Through the years, I’ve collected a number of tips on conducting witness interviews in such a way that it can be an enjoyable process, not just for the surprised witness, but for the artist himself or herself.

  Some of the information I’m going to give may overlap or otherwise repeat something I’ve already said—but don’t worry about that. If I’ve already said it once, it’s still important that I say it again.

  When I get to the end of my own suggestions, I’ll include scientific verification for my techniques that were published by the FBI a few years ago. I read these findings some ten years after I’d started using them myself. I consider it a validation for something I knew instinctively.

  Empathy is essential.

  In fact, empathy is the single most important characteristic a forensic artist should possess—even more important than highly-trained skills or vast artistic talent.

  In this book you’ve read that I was brutally attacked myself and that when I am in the presence of witnesses, I often draw upon that violent experience not only to help me understand what they are going through, but to offer my own experience as a source of common ground and support.

  You may be thinking, Gosh Lois, that’s great, but I’ve never been attacked! I’ve never been the victim of a violent crime! I’m glad I haven’t been, but what am I supposed to do? How can I relate to a traumatized witness and help her to relax and remember?

  Don’t worry—empathy can be learned and it’s not as hard as you think.

  Everyone knows what “sympathy” is. When you hear that something bad has happened to someone, you feel bad for him or her.

  However, empathy goes deeper than mere sympathy. With empathy, you actually feel the pain of the victim. The best way I can describe it is for you to think back to your own “worst day” experience.

  How did you feel the day you were in a car accident or your mother died or your child briefly disappeared?

  Whatever your own life experience, it can help you to empathize with victims who are suffering, even if you have not had the same experience as they.

  Some people mistakenly believe that drawing on their own grief to help another would be too upsetting and stressful, that they’re better off burying such experiences. But nothing could be further from the truth. Anytime you use your own pain to reach out and help another hurting soul, you experience healing yourself.

  Remember Heidi Guzman, whose own sister was horribly murdered? She drew on that experience to become an activist for the organization Parents of Murdered Children. She would be the first to tell you that every time she reaches out to comfort another bruised soul, she grows stronger and more peaceful herself.

  In addition, I would like to reassure any law enforcement people reading this that it is not too traumatic for a witness to participate in a sketch session soon after their attack. It’s just the opposite. It’s empowering.

  This does not in any way mean that a sketching session has to be a weep-fest! Far from it! In fact, that brings me to my next most important point:

  The forensic sketching session should be the most enjoyable conversation possible considering what the witness has endured.

  What I’m saying here could also be included in the section on “empathy,” but when you are in a session with a crime victim/witness, it is important that you become a bit of a chameleon and change your colors to fit the situation.

  It’s simple common sense and basic human courtesy. If, for example, your witness has just experienced a terrifying car-jacking, you’re not going to ramble on about you brand-new car. If they’re high-school kids, well, what are you going to talk about? High school, of course! If they’re children, you ask them the kinds of things you know children love to talk about.

  And if they nearly died, you don’t whisper around the topic like it’s forbidden. You can rest assured it’s all they think about. So softly say, “You almost died.” (This lets them see you know.) Then you can say joyously, “But you lived! Isn’t that wonderful?”

  I’ve never said those words yet that I didn’t see a big smile on a survivor’s face.

  It’s part of helping these survivors relax, it’s part of being empathetic, but it’s also part of making the interview a pleasant experience.

  And sometimes, that can even lead to laughter.

  Did she just say, LAUGHTER?

  Yes, I did!

  Whenever possible, as much as possible, it’s important to get the witness to laugh. This is the most valuable tool you can use in a good interview. (Obviously there are some witnesses who have been through too horrific an experience to be brought to laughter. However, I’ve gotten witnesses to laugh that an outsider never would have imagined.)

  Speaking in strictly technical terms, it has been proven, scientifically, that mood elevation aids memory.

  In more compassionate terms, look at it this way. You’re going to be spending at least an hour in this person’s company. He or she has just been through a terrible experience and everyone around him or her usually is grim, worried and unsure what to say. The witnesses often are experiencing depression, anger and a great deal of stress.

  The healthiest thing they could possibly do, under the circumstances, is laugh!

  I’m not suggesting you whip out a list of jokes or anything. I’m just talking about being relaxed, the way you would when you were first getting acquainted with someone who might become a friend. Remember the drill team member, Emily, the girl who had been savagely raped, but was bravely preparing to go out and perform at
half-time? We talked about the dance routine she had learned and she said how she’d practiced and I commented that she would do great that night, that nobody ever died from a drill team routine.

  This was a person who had been so close to being murdered that one of her attackers tried to hire a hit man later to finish the job.

  So what did she do when I said that?

  She laughed. Right out loud. Threw back her head and laughed.

  Just go with the flow. Don’t be afraid to toss out a wisecrack if one occurs to you. Smile as often as you can. Most people will respond in kind.

  Even better…they will remember that face and you can draw it from that memory.

  Let’s recap some of the characteristics of a good interview:

  Relax witnesses by relaxing yourself.

  Tell them how the sketch will be done.

  Don’t argue when they insist they can’t remember.

  Take away the task. Tell them it’s okay if you don’t do a perfect sketch. Let the witness know that HE OR SHE HAS NOTHING TO LOSE—nothing bad will happen if the sketch turns out terrible. Why not just give it a try?

  Perform the sketch as quickly as possible without appearing rushed.

  Discuss positive things to elevate the witness’s mood and, whenever possible, make ’em laugh!

  Don’t be afraid to bring it up if he or she almost died. Point out how wonderful it is that he or she alive.

  There are some more technical aspects of the interview, such as what kind of chair to use, phone numbers at hand and so forth that I will get into, but now, I’d like to delve into some more psychological aspects of the interview that will help you immensely to understand what your witness is going through and needs to help him or her though the process.

  Use a soft speaking voice. For children, especially, it’s important not to use a loud voice. Someone who has experienced trauma feels less threatened by a soft voice, which leads to the all-important relaxation.

  Understand the terrible sense of isolation. The vast majority of people have never experienced violence and thank God for that. But few people who haven’t experienced it really understand how to handle it when a loved one is attacked.