My Kind of Prosecutor

by Diane Fanning


How do you decide which true crime book to read?  There are a number of reasons I make those decisions.  Sometimes, I am familiar with the case and want to know more.  Other times, it is because of an author whose work I respect and enjoy reading.  And then, there are times, I must admit, when I judge the book by its cover.

But recently, I found a whole new reason to select a particular true crime book.  I ended up holding Afraid of the Dark, by Tom Henderson, in my hand for a much more personal reason.  I don't know Tom, and I'd never read one of his books.

It started in my doctor's office.  During this follow-up visit, my doctor, Ronald Cohle, asked about my latest books and what I had in the works.  Then, to my amazement, he revealed something he'd never mentioned in the last sixteen years: his brother, Stephen Cohle (below right), is a medical examiner in Michigan.  He also said that Stephen had recently been on television and mentioned in a book.  He couldn't, however, remember which television show or the title or author of the book.

It didn't take long, though, for me to track down Afraid of the Dark, a true crime book about Florence and Mark Unger (above left).  When Henderson described the boathouse where Florence died, it sounded familiar.  I flipped to the photo section and there it was.  It all rushed into focus -- I remembered learning about that case on Dateline NBC.  Now, I really wanted to know more.

Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear in the pages of that book but prosecutor and Women in Crime Ink contributor Donna Pendergast.  I flashed back to the television show and recalled how impressed I'd been watching her in action in the clips on Dateline NBC.

The book added far more depth than an hour-long show could hope to offer.  It gave a glimpse into the complexities of two people whose marriage with children disintegrated into a melodrama of misery and murder.

It all came to an end on the morning of October 25, 2003, when Florence's body was found floating in the shallows of Lower Herring Lake at Watervale Inn, a northern Michigan resort.  Her husband, Mark Unger, claimed that on the previous night, he left her alone on a deck atop the boathouse to check on their boys.  He said that when he returned fifteen minutes later, she was gone.  He thought that she went to the cabin of friends to socialize.

The next morning, when her lifeless body was discovered, he surmised that Florence must have tripped, hit her head and fallen into the water where she drowned.


But prosecutors and law enforcement had another theory.  They believed Mark had knocked his wife off of the boathouse, causing a severe injury to her head when she hit the concrete slab twelve feet below.  Then, to cover up the assault, they suspected he pushed her into the water, bleeding but alive.

 

Mark was charged with first degree murder in May 2004.  The investigation uncovered financial problems, a divorce filing, an extramarital affair, an addiction to Vicodin and a looming custody battle over the Ungers' two young boys.  They also discovered many pieces of forensic evidence that were inconsistent with the tale told by Mark.

His trial began on May 3, 2006.  It was the 93rd murder trial for Donna Pendergast, (right). She and her assisting counsel, Mark Bilkovic and John Skrzynski, presented a thorough and convincing case from beginning to end.  But one piece of evidence stood out to me -- something emotionally compelling.  Florence Unger was extremely terrified of the dark and had been all of her life.  There was no way she would have sat alone on top of that boathouse in the pitch-blackness of a rural night.  Mark's whole story was a lie.

Still, the case was all circumstantial, and a battle of experts made the forensic evidence complicated.  Reading the book, you are not sure of the verdict until the end.

One thing, though, is obvious throughout: Pendergast is a formidable prosecutor.  The Detroit Free Press ran a profile of her with the headline: "Born to Prosecute,"  noting that her father was a 40-year veteran police officer. In the article, Swickard wrote: "Defendants can hear a cell door's cold clank when she enters the courtroom."

My advice to anyone contemplating murder: steer clear of Pendergast's territory. She obtained her first murder conviction in 1989 and hasn’t stopped yet. Donna Pendergast has a passion for justice; a tireless persistence to seek it, no matter how long it takes; a steely determination to achieve the right outcome in every single case; and a win rate in murder trials to prove it.

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Two New Stacy Dittrich Books Hit the Shelves!

NONFICTION
Stumbling along the Beat:
A Policewoman’s Uncensored Story from the World of Law Enforcement

When you’re a cop, you lay your life on the line every day. It’s one of the toughest jobs in the world, and the common belief that women aren’t up to it doesn’t make it any easier. But even as a kid, Stacy Dittrich craved the adrenaline rush of putting bad guys behind bars. When her father and uncles, all police officers, gathered to share their stories, Stacy was in the front row. Riding along in her father’s cruiser with the sirens blaring, she knew she’d found something that could make her feel alive.

There were dark days on the beat, days when Stacy, a detective specializing in sex crimes, could hardly believe the horrors she faced. Parents whose neglect of their own children seemed outright evil. Men and women whose sadistic acts made the world a terrifying place. But for Stacy, getting these depraved criminals off the streets was all that mattered. She was protecting the innocent, doing whatever she could to help them feel safe … until she became a target herself. Terrifyingly, some of the most dangerous people she encountered were her fellow cops. And they would not stop until Stacy gave up—her career, her dreams, and even her life.

But Stacy Dittrich was no victim.

Broken. Bloodied. Stabbed in the back. Stumbling Along the Beat, Stacy Dittrich never knew which one she’d be. But the desire for danger was in her blood—and the hunt for justice was all that mattered to her. This is her brutally honest, true story of survival on the streets.

Stacy Dittrich’s father, retired police lieutenant Joseph Wendling, wrote the foreword for this book. The book's already grabbed the attention of a few people we’ve heard of.

“Humorous and shocking, Stacy Dittrich’s account of life as a female police officer and growing up in a law enforcement family will undoubtedly grab your attention. A fascinating read!”
--Ray Liotta, award-winning actor and star of Goodfellas and Cop Land.

 

FICTION
In The Body Mafia, the third book in Stacy Dittrich’s intense CeeCee Gallagher thriller series, CeeCee risks her life to uncover a ring of Mafia killers who murder people to sell their body parts on the black market. When the bodies of local homeless men begin turning up missing major organs, Detective CeeCee Gallagher is hot on the trail of the perpetrators. Only after her husband, FBI Agent Michael Hagerman, is the target of a car bomb, does CeeCee realize what she’s really dealing with. This is no mere madman. These killers are organized—and more dangerous than any CeeCee’s seen before.

Both of Stacy Dittrich's new books are available in bookstores and online now. She'll be signing STUMBLING ALONG THE BEAT and THE BODY MAFIA on Saturday, May 8th, at Barnes and Noble, Mansfield, Ohio from 5pm-7pm.

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Okay, Girls, Time to Listen Up!

by Kathryn Casey

They're not knights in shining armor. Their fervor isn't building because they love and want to protect you. I don't care if you met them in a bar, in church or on a college campus. The first time he lifts a fist toward you, when he issues his first threat, or his behavior verges on stalking, get help. Don't explain it away. Don't think you can change him. Tell those in charge, expose him for what he is, do what you have to do to stay safe, and get him the hell out of your life.

In fact, it's a good thing to stand your ground from the start. Take your time. Don't get invested in a guy too early. Wait on falling head over heels and starting a sexual relationship with a guy, until you know what type of person his is, including how he handles conflict. Do your best to make sure he's one of the good guys before you become romantically entangled.

There are almost always signs that a jerk's not a keeper. There are indications that the situation is spiraling out of control. Listen to your instincts. Those little hairs standing up on the back of your neck when you think about what he's capable of, they're telling you something. The goosebumps on your arms might not be from attraction but fear. Watch for the signs, keep your eyes open, and if you see indications that the guy has violence, rage, sex and love mixed-up, get out!

George Huguely, the University of Virginia lacrosse player now charged with murdering his girlfriend, another student athlete, Yeardley Love, apparently gave off those warning signals. News reports tell of prior altercations, including one with a woman police officer during which he yelled racial and sexual slurs. That run-in with the law resulted in probation. Huguely is, his friends say, a mean drunk. Yeardley must have known that; they were dating. Why didn't she alert authorities when he sent her threatening text messages? Am I blaming the victim? No. The villain here isn't Love; it's Huguely. But we as women need to be proactive. We need to do what we can to protect ourselves.

Love had options she apparently didn't take. Perhaps she thought she'd hang in there until May 23, when she and the man she was trying to wrench out of her life would each graduate and move in separate directions. Perhaps she'd talked him out of his rampages before and thought she could control him. Perhaps Love believed that, despite his threats, Huguely would never truly hurt her.

I understand that hindsight is 20/20, but Yeardley needed to take action, to get safe. She needed to understand who George Huguely is and that he had no place in her life.

If Yeardly Love didn't think she had to report Huguely's actions for her own protection, she should have done it for the women who would come after her, the ones who'd cross his path in the future. At the very least, Love needed to think: Okay. I'll get through this. But maybe he'll do it again, moving on to other victims. I need to make sure this guy has a track record, so others will be forewarned who they're dealing with.

Instead of filing for a restraining order, notifying police, at least attempting to move out of the line of fire, Yeardley was at home when Huguely says he broke down her door and attacked.

Do some women die every year at the hands of a partner even after notifying authorities and taking action? Sure. We all know that's true. The most dangerous time for a woman is when she's attempting to separate from a violent partner. It's true that there's only so much we can do to ensure our own safety, but we do have options: make reports, file complaints, get a restraining order, in this case, notify the campus police and administrators, tell your parents. Perhaps it would have been arranged for Huguely to leave the campus early, do his finals from home. Or maybe Love could have left early, returning to her home in Maryland, giving her the advantage of physical distance. Do we know for sure that any of these options would have saved Yeardley's life? No. But they could have.

So, please, don't believe you can change these guys. Don't delude yourself into thinking you owe them anything. When violence or threats of violence enter a relationship, all bets are off. Your main goal, your top priority, is safety. Get him out of your life and move on. And do everything you can to let others know who this guy is, so that when the next woman files a report, the investigating officer sees that your ex-boyfriend or ex-husband has a history of violence. At least then there's the potential that the new girlfriend's fears will be taken seriously.

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What are Prisons Really For?

By Women in Crime Ink

 We've asked our contributors a few questions about the prison system. What is its purpose -- punishment, rehabilitation, or separating criminals from society? Is the system accomplishing that purpose? If the purpose is keeping criminals apart from the rest of society, are there alternatives besides incarceration in prison cells? 

Kathryn Casey:
It depends on the case. For those with life without parole, prisons are nothing more than a holding area, some more humane than others, where dangerous folks are segregated to keep society as a whole safer for the rest of us. For those who might someday get out, prison is primarily punishment, but it does offer, for those who reach out for it, a chance for rehabilitation.

Most of the prisons I've visited, and I've been in plenty down here in Texas, offer literacy and GED programs. Illiteracy is incredibly high behind bars. Yet I remember years ago meeting a convicted murderer who finished high school, got a bachelor's and a master's degree while serving a 60-year sentence. When I talked to him, he was working on a Ph.D. through a correspondence course. An inmate has to seek out the opportunities, and few do. For most offenders, the time in prison is simply punishment and wasted years.

One of the disappointing things is that there's so little treatment for sex offenders and violent criminals in prisons. Most aren't given any treatment at all until shortly before release, despite studies that show these types of ex-cons have high recidivism rates and require years of therapy, if there's any hope at all of preventing future crimes.

Donna Pendergast:

 The prison system aspires to rehabilitate offenders, but it isn't the purpose of the system -- only a goal.

The purpose of prison is to isolate offenders from society to protect the public and to punish offenders.  Unfortunately, although prison may not be a preferred experience, the amenities offered to offenders sometimes strain the bounds of belief. Libraries more extensive than in a prosecutor's office, large screen TVs, and well-equipped work out areas are standard fare at most prisons.  These privileges should be earned, not mandated.  I am not at all for any kind of abusive treatment of prisoners, but the prison experience should not be a posh one. That's why I am such a fan of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whom I have posted on before.  Although he presides over a county jail rather than a prison, he makes sure that it is not a pleasant experience.  His standard retort to complaining prisoners is "If you don't like it, don't come back.

Katherine Scardino:

Jurors want revenge for a really heinous crime.  A kidnapping, rape or any crime involving a child induces immediate wrath on the defendant.  There is no discussion of rehabilitation.  I truly believe that a juror couldn't care less whether the prison system allows for counseling, education or any other individual assistance. The only issue is "how much does it cost?"  Your question: "why do we have a prison?"  It is, as Kathryn said, a "house" for people who have violated our laws. In capital cases, there are serious problems relating to sensory deprivation, where humans are kept in a box 23 out of 24 hours a day, and fed through a hole in the door.  This is inhuman and more than punishment. But, we say, they deserve this. These people hurt my family, my society, and should not be allowed to join the rest of us. No one disagrees with it. But prison should be more than a holding cell. Prison should be a place where bad people have an opportunity to learn about being better and returning to society as different people -- instead of learning how to be worse than they were when they entered the prison system. This does not help any of us.

Andrea Campbell:

Just as there are different camps on most major issues of any importance, there will always be disagreement on why offenders should be punished, how offenders should be punished, and what constitutes punishment. The common dictionary says quite generally that punishment is loss, severe treatment or suffering. Our prison systems are based on the concept that corrections serve these functions:  1) retribution, 2) deterrence, 3) incapacitation, and 4) rehabilitation. I think we also need to consider two other functions are enumerated: reintegration, and control.

But what about retribution for the victims? This system dictates that the severity of the offense should match the level of incarceration. If some petty, non-violent crook gets nicked, he might be able to do his time at an “honor farm.” Likewise, if a man has been convicted as a murderer, maximum security is probably what he’s earned. This methodology even weighs the type of probation on the same scale. In the aftermath, the probationary attention to follow-up and detail befits the crime similarly. Citizens should like this system, because they feel it shows the moral imperative of “getting tough on crime.” We might think about a new, modern Justice Model of punishment.

Like a “Just Desserts” concept,  it rejects the notion of rehabilitation as key and aims to avoid sentencing disparities. It seeks to match the punishment to the crime with room for variation, with a major difference up-front: To do a re-evaluation of the offender's past record. Then it would institute the type of justice a particular community wants reflected onto the behavior of its citizens. The foundation for the policy is that everyone is responsible for his/her own actions; that rational thought brought them to this end; that the criminal should bear the blame for his/her acts; and that the public needs protection and should be able to legislate punishment according to proscribed dicta of constitutional severity. As far as corrections, I think prisons should be privatized.

Pat Brown:

I think we have to look at two types of prisoners: those who can be rehabilitated and deserving of rehabilitation, and those who can't be rehabilitated nor deserving of rehabilitation. The latter are excessively violent repeat offenders, violent sexual predators and serial killers. Therapy does not "cure" arrogant psychopaths lacking in remorse or empathy; they will always be a danger to society, and they deserve no sympathy from us. Put them away and keep them away. Furthermore, we shouldn't be wasting taxpayer money allowing them to amuse themselves studying and getting degrees while their victims are rotting in the grave or living lives or psychological, physical or economic poverty.

The former group can be divided into two subgroups: those who are willing to be rehabilitated and those who are not. Prisoners should earn their right to favors by the society they have abused and when they earn that consideration by good behavior and hard work, then they can be moved to a rehabilitation facility where they can earn an income and pay for their education and vocational training like citizens do on the outside.

Lisa Cohen:

This topic resonates particularly for me. For most of the last five years, I researched and wrote a book (AFTER ETAN: The Missing Child Case That Held America Captive) about the long, horrific “career” of Jose Ramos, a serial pedophile who damaged countless helpless children in the '70s and '80s (including Down's Syndrome and mentally challenged boys). He was finally locked away from any future victims in 1986 and has served the last 25 years in prison.  A generation of children have been safe from him. But in 2011, he’ll max out and will walk free unless someone can figure out a way to stop him. He’s never completed a sex offender program and has never taken responsibility for the worst of his crimes.

The father of Etan Patz, the boy Ramos almost certainly kidnapped, raped and killed, has said Ramos should never be released from prison.  “He’s a predator,” Stan Patz told me,  as well as a 60 Minutes audience, “and he should never be allowed near children again. He should be kept behind bars until he’s too old to walk.” His is a compelling argument.

But for the last year, I’ve been involved in a very different project, albeit on a related topic. "ONE LAST SHOT: A Story of Redemption," is an ongoing documentary I’ve been directing. It tells the story of inmates at maximum security Angola Prison, home to Louisiana’s Death Row and some of the most hardened criminals you will ever meet. Half of them are killers; 85 percent will die at Angola. The particular inmates I’m focusing on staff a hospice at the prison, where they help dying fellow inmates to a humane death, something most of them cheated their own victims out of.

I’ve now spent time with several of these men. Many committed their crimes decades ago. So did Jose Ramos.  They are soft-spoken and articulate. So was Jose Ramos whenever I talked to him.

But I watch as these hospice volunteers clearly care about their dying patients. They feed them, clean them, comfort them.  Sometimes they change their diapers.  They watch them slowly waste away and eventually die, holding their hands as they slip away.  They treat each other and their hospice colleagues with respect.  They speak eloquently of developing compassion, of nurturing their humanity. They say they seek redemption.

They seem different than Jose Ramos, and they want to send that message via this documentary. As I continue to film, I hope to learn for myself whether that is true.  If so, then programs like prison hospice, inmate counseling, religious rehabilitation, are worthwhile and need to be promoted.  I’ve heard over and over while at Angola the credo: “A man’s entire life should not be judged by his worst act.”  

Cathy Scott:

I'll quote my friend Kevin Powell, an author and a Brooklynite through and through who cares about his rundown community and is running for a seat in U.S. Congress.

One leg of his campaign platform is "rid the 'hood of crime and pollution." He says that includes redirecting imprisonment dollars into education and enhancing "alternative strategies to lower incarceration rates." He also calls for abolishing the death penalty. "These actions," he says, "will reduce the rates of recidivism while creating opportunities for success." As the late Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger once said in his "Factories with Fences" speech, "We need prison reforms that will encourage offenders to earn and learn their way to freedom." I'm with Powell and Burger. Change is needed, and giving inmates the tools they need is paramount for them to live as non-offenders and contributing members of society outside the prison walls.

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Where is Gabriel Johnson on his First Birthday?

by Pat Brown

I was reminded yesterday that it was little Gabriel's first birthday. Gabriel Johnson disappeared four months ago. His mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, called his father from Texas, and told him that he would never see the baby again, that she had killed Gabriel and tossed his "little blue body" into a dumpster. Elizabeth was arrested and extradited back to Arizona when she was found babyless in Florida. But as the police questioned her, she changed her story again and again. First she claimed she left the baby with a couple in a San Antonio park; then she said she gave Gabriel to a couple who came to her San Antonio motel room. She said she had no idea who the couple was, but that she trusted them with her baby. Elizabeth is in jail now; we know where she is. But as to little Gabriel Johnson, we haven't a clue. We don't even know if he's alive or dead.

Yesterday was also the third anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who went missing on a family vacation in Portugal. Maddie's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, two doctors from Britain, left Madelaine and her little brother and sister alone in their hotel room while they dined with friends. When Kate came back to check on the children, she claimed she found Maddie "had been taken." The Portuguese police came to believe that Maddie died in an accident there, and her parents removed her body to cover up the crime. For three years, Kate and Gerry have furiously denied this. But there are many, including myself, who've found the McCanns' behavior odd and the evidence leaning toward an accident, not an abduction. Nothing has validated either theory, but one thing is for sure: Maddie is still missing.

Do you remember 12-year-old Kayleigh Wilson, who left home in Greeley, Colorado, for a birthday party on the afternoon of March 28th but never made it to her friend's house? The FBI has been working night and day with police to figure out where she went, but there have been no leads. She was last seen on video camera passing by the mall parking lot.

On April 29th, the body of college student Morgan Harrington was found in a farmer's field. Morgan was last seen during a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, Virginia. She had left the concert for reasons unknown and wasn't allowed back in. She was seen walking on the road. Her body was found in a far-off corner of a fenced-in piece of land not easily accessible to anyone but the property owner, friends, and workmen. This limited public access would seem to have made it possible to narrow down the suspect list and find her killer. But so far, no noticeable progress has been made toward solving the case.

Kristi Cornwell, a 38-year-old Georgia woman last known to be taking a walk near her home in August, vanished off the face of the earth. Her last words, heard by her horrified boyfriend as she screamed them into her cell phone, were: "Don't take me!" The case would seem be a stranger abduction, but no tips have turned out to be very successful leads.

One year ago, 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel went missing from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on a spring break get-away with her friends. Her family has been searching for her non-stop ever since but so far, no solid evidence has pointed to anywhere or anyone. Meanwhile, even though it's likely she isn't with us anymore, tipsters have reported iseeing her on a bus and in a store. Her family is praying that she'll beat the odds and show up one day.

Susan Powell, 28, a Utah mother of two, has been gone since December 7, 2009. That fateful night, her husband Josh decided to take his sons on a midnight camping trip in the middle of a blizzard. He is the only "person of interest" in the case, but he and the boys now live in another state. Even though the husband's story is bizarre and unbelievable, and even though two fans were found blowing on a wet spot in his living room, I guess they don't have enough evidence, such as Susan's body, to persuade a jury to convict.

What links these cases together is not just that they involve missing people. They've all been featured on the CNN-HLN Nancy Grace show, and they're all still unsolved. I've been asked on occasion how often cases that I profile get prosecuted. I explain that because I am brought in so late on such cases (two years later, five years later, twenty years later and no DNA is in existence to definitively link the crime to the killer), it's unlikely they will see the inside of a courtroom. The cases may be "solved" -- my profile may have led the detectives to identify the likely offender, but they are not going to go public with this information unless they have solid evidence to prove the case.

This is the reason I eventually realized, after repeatedly beating my head against a wall, that profilers and crime analysts need to be brought in early on in the investigation. Doing so would improve the analysis of cases and generate more leads while the evidence is still there to collect. "Early on" means within the first 24 to 48 hours, or at least within the first week or month. Detectives need more training in crime reconstruction and criminal profiling themselves so they can go ahead and do their own profiling work on their cases rather than bring in an outside profiler. Most departments are reluctant to bring in outsiders, which is why they wait so long to do it.

It's a sad truth that no matter which professionals work these cases, whether local police detectives, state investigators, or profilers -- FBI-connected or independent -- and no matter how good some of them are, there will still be an extremely high number of cases remaining unsolved or unprosecuted, especially stranger abductions.

Think about this: The cases I've mentioned here are recent cases I'm recalling these cases just from Nancy Grace's show. If I went through the rest of the cases on her show for the last year, the list would be even longer. The high rate of unsolved crimes is a reality that many inside and outside of law enforcement don't want to face. Sometimes we just don't realize how many cases never got solved as time fades our memory of them. But this is exactly why I believe we need to change the way the system uses criminal profilers, crime analysts, and profiling methodology; we need to catch a few more killers and save a few more lives.

I'll be curious to see how many more unsolved cases you readers can come up with from the past 12 months of Nancy Grace shows. I listed seven. What's number eight? Number nine? Number ten?

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Retinal Scanning: An Aid to Identification is Here

by Andrea Campbell

We’ve all seen the futuristic movies with the retinal scanners—usually a chemist character uses the eye reader as a way to enter a facility that houses dangerous chemicals. The camera quickly scans the chemist’s eye and with a swoosh he is admitted into the secure room. Cool, huh? Well, the future is already here.

Biometrics

Reading the iris of a person’s eye with retinal scanning is part of identification that is referred to as “biometrics.” Identification through biometrics uses a biological, physiological, or behavioral characteristic in order to confirm a person’s identity. Fingerprinting is the best known, including today’s automated clear screen systems that can read prints without having to ink-up the hand. Under the umbrella of biometrics is also DNA matching, voice recognition, handwriting analysis, facial reading or recognition programs, and, of course, iris and retinal scans.

According to the U.S. Patent service, using the iris as a biometric marker was researched and patented by Drs. Leonard Flom and Aram Safir in 1987. Because of the Flom and Safir patent, and the lack of a publicly accessible data set of images, little further research or information existed until later on when in 1994, Dr. John Daugman of Cambridge University, produced the mathematical formulas—the Daugman algorithm—which are used to measure the varying characteristics that are etched into the human eye.

Then the Iris Challenge Evaluation (ICE) emerged in 2006. A face recognition and vendor test, ICE was a survey of research used to determine the state-of-the-art capability of automatic iris recognition technology, and a way to establish a performance baseline against which to measure future progress. The independent evaluations have provided an unbiased assessment of the state-of-the-art in the technology and have identified the most promising approaches. If you like to decipher complicated reports you can pick up one here:

http://iris.nist.gov/ice/ice2006.htm

Usage

The National Institute of Justice says that retinal scanning can be used for confirming and securing the identity of individuals for:

• Court appearances

• Inmate processing

• Identification of visitors to any justice facility or educational institution

• Confirmation of identification of those with multiple, false or no identity documentation

• Mortuary identification (especially in a critical incident)

• “Wants and warrants” verification

• Sex offender tracking

• Criminal history checks

• And queries across criminal justice information system databases

In the field, the collection of biometrics can help officers with routine duties such as traffic stops, it can eliminate the misidentification of subjects, save time and money by reducing transportation and processing for identification, and mobilize image captures and transmissions.

Pipe Dream Realized

In Golden, Colorado, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was looking for a new way to automate tracking of jail inmates. They needed a tool that was practical, accessible and easy to use. Special Duty Officer James Prichett explains, “In 2005, our jail had a capacity for 1,300 inmates and housed an average of 1,153. On a typical day, staff booked from 50 to 80 persons and handled the final release of approximately 50 inmates. Additionally, approximately 200 inmates were released daily from the facility with passes to work, seek employment, and pursue educational opportunities.” Jefferson County is not alone; these tracking activities are common to large corrections facilities.

But how would it work?

As explained in the law enforcement and corrections periodical Tech Beat, basically iris scanning begins by having the subject look into a mirror mounted on a stationary or handheld device. Using simple audio voice commands, the system gives the subject straightforward directions, such as “come closer,” or “step back,” in order to achieve proper positioning of the iris, which usually takes just a few seconds. Behind the mirror, a high-resolution digital camera captures the iris image, and the system tells the operator that successful capture has occurred. The device then makes an encoded template and compares it with all iris templates stored in the database.

"Once the system captures the iris image, matches are made in less than four seconds,” Prichett says. “Given a template match, indicating that the subject has been enrolled in the system, the operator may display on the device screen basic information about the inmate such as height, weight, date of birth, former address, and work-release facts. Once the system and our mainframe are integrated, perhaps within a year, information such as police record, gang affiliation, active warrants, photograph, and fingerprints will also be instantly available on the screen. If the subject is not already enrolled, the device prompts the operator to enter enrollment information.”

No inmate has been wrongly released or mismatched since the jail started relying on iris biometrics. Says Prichett, “Our experience at the jail is that iris scanning is fast, efficient, and accurate.”

How accurate is retinal scanning?

According to a report issued by Newswise and Loyola University Health System, in retinal scanning, a person looks into a scanner and a ray of light is reflected off the retina, at the back of the eye.

"The configuration of retinal blood vessels is unique to each individual and cannot be altered," says Dr. Brian Proctor, an ophthalmologist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, Illinois.

“You can’t change the back of your eye, so it definitely is a proof-positive method of identification,” Proctor says. “Use of retinal scanning as a means of identification has been around for awhile; technology has now caught up with the idea and advanced computerization including database availability can make this a reality.”

Proctor regularly performs a version of retinal screening in the diagnosis and treatment of certain eye conditions and in preparation for complicated eye surgeries.

Several U. S. senators have proposed retinal scanning as an identification method to aid in immigration reform.

* * *

Sources: Newswise and Loyola University Health System

L. Flom and A. Safir, “Iris recognition system,” U.S. Patent 4,641,349, 1987.

Tech Beat National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, Fall 2006 “The Eyes Have It”

Additional information about publications and resources relating to biometric technologies are available through the National Institute of Justice website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/biometrics/pubs.htm.

International Biometric Group, “Independent testing of iris recognition technology,”

International Biometric Group, Tech. Rep., May 2005. Available:

http://www.ibgweb.com/reports/public/ITIRT.html

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Hard to read, but you should

by Kathryn Casey

My mom, LaVerne, died of Alzheimer's in June 2006. She'd been ill for nine years, and it was horrific.

My mother (here in a very old picture of the two of us) was hard-working, loving, articulate and funny. She enjoyed reading, dancing with my father, and she relished a good laugh. Mom was a secretary and one of the few women in our suburban neighborhood who worked outside the house. She never really liked cleaning or cooking, but for us she did both, never complaining. Nothing pleased her more than being with her family. Christmas was her favorite holiday, and for mom the only real roses were red.

Anyone who has lived through watching a loved one battle this devastating disease, one that slowly steals everything from its victims, understands what I'm talking about. Gradually, Alzheimer's robbed my mother of everything that made her my mom. In the end, Mom trembled constantly, her body never at rest. She recognized none of us. She had no peace and, unable to remember even her own name, no identity.

My mother, I'm convinced, was trapped inside her tortured mind and body. Part of her survived, caught inside, unable to find the words to come out. You see, there were those brief moments when she resurfaced.

The last time this happened was the spring before her death. My father and I had spent the entire day at the nursing home with her. Over and over again, I said to her, "Mom, it's me, Kathy." And then I'd ask, "Who am I?" She'd look at me, troubled, unable to answer.

Late that evening, St. Patrick's Day, I said it one last time: "Mom, it's Kathy."

This time she looked at me, her eyes clear, and she said, "Kathy, it's you?"

For the first time in a very long time, we talked. Actually I talked. I asked her if she understood what was going on around her, and she said sometimes she did, but that it was hard to find the words to communicate.

We had a glorious half an hour together, before the light in her eyes again faded. It was enough time to tell her that we all missed her, and that I loved her. "I love you, too," she said, the words taking great effort. "Always."

Recently, I read a frightening yet beautiful book entitled Still Alice by Lisa Genova. It's fiction, but it reads like a true story, about a woman, a renowned professor and researcher, who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. The novel takes readers from diagnosis through the next year or so of the character's life, and paints a picture of how the disease progressively dismantles its victims, destroying their lives and breaking the hearts of all those who love them.

 

For me, Still Alice rang true. It reflected what I experienced loving my mother and watching her slowly die: the heartbreak of so much loss and the joy of those small moments of triumph, like that final St. Patrick's Day evening. What Genova illustrates is what I saw first hand: hidden away deep inside, the person we love lives on.

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