Faces and Characteristics
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3500800412 |
| Published date | 01 October 1935 |
| Date | 01 October 1935 |
| Author | George Stirrat |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Faces and Characteristics
By
GEORGE
STIRRAT
Sergeant-Instructor, Glasgow City Police
THE
policeman must sharpen his senses to seek out
criminal characteristics in those he meets. Apart from
his knowledge of registered criminals and their associates,
modus operandi, and places of ill-repute, he should study all
faces and mannerisms. He should, in addition, for example,
associate a gait with a drug addict or a scar with a certain
type of weapon. He should observe as much as he can
about any person, thing, or happening of which he has had
no experience or information.
It
is not my intention to prescribe rules for rounding up
criminals,
but
merely to make known some of the points
which have struck me, and further, to state what authority
has said upon the subject.
I am no reputed physiognomist,
but
the study of faces,
gesticulations, characteristics, and clothes has always been
amatter of interest to me.
Might Iremind those who have lived or served in India
of the introductory remarks of the Indian fortune-teller?
"Ah,
Sahib! You have a kind face. Master, you have a
number one nose."
This numerical reference conveys nothing to me,
but
probably no feature is so indicative of character as the nose.
One frequently finds a perky person with a sharp sparrow-
like nose indicating extreme pertness.
It
is very noticeable that people connected with certain
professions or businesses acquire a certain look. Thus, the
aquiline clerical face is a type by itself, and at the other end
of the scale, quite apart from his clothes or demeanour, one
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