Spectacles — A Means of Personal Identification
| Published date | 01 November 1962 |
| Date | 01 November 1962 |
| Author | WM. Spence |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6203500605 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DET.
INSPECTOR
WM.
SPENCE
Aberdeen City Police
"Mony amickle maks amuckle
",
especially in criminal investigation.
Det. Inspector Spence draws attention to a factor that may be very
useful indeed.
Spectacles
- a
Means
of
Personal
Identification
NO POLICE officer can afford to neglect material evidence no matter
in which shape or form it occurs. Sometimes, however, the im-
portance and possibilities
of
such evidence are not fully appreciated
. . . take spectacles for instance.
It
is well known that no one should wear spectacles which have
been prescribed for some one else, the reason being that
it
is very
unlikely for two persons to have the same sight refractive errors. The
extent
of
these personal defects gives rise to the thought
that
there
might be possibilities in some form
of
personal identification. An
ophthalmic optician tests a person's eyesight and where the sight is
deficient through heredity, disease
or
old age, the completed pre-
scription is really a system
of
classification
of
defects.
The great value
of
fingerprints as an irrefutable means
of
personal
identification has been long known but only became a practical
possibility after the development
of
acomprehensive system
of
classification involving types, values and so on. With spectacles
therefore,
ifit
were possible to obtainthe prescription (classification)
of
the glasses, it might be possible to identify the owner. This is
neither the place for a lesson on optics nor am I qualified to give it,
but
I hope the following personal experiences may be
of
future help
where spectacles or parts
of
spectacles are found. After all, so many
people wear optical aids nowadays
that
possibly some
of
them
commit crime and leave behind them an interesting clue to their
identity.
It
is with this possibility in mind that these suggestions are
made and the following practical experiences in Aberdeen are
recounted.
Cases
(1) In December, 1943, a householder reported
that
during the
evening her bungalow had been broken into and money stolen.
Inquiry revealed the usual story
of
temporary absence and
November-December /962 384
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