To Catch a Thief

Now that confessions are coming under increasing attack in the courts, U.S. police and prosecutors must rely more on investigation, less on the interrogation of suspects that has long been the basis of most criminal convictions. Fortunately a host of new crime-detection devices are being perfected to help law-enforcement officers. Items:

> NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS links suspects to incredibly small bits of physical evidence that defy conventional chemical or spectroscopic analysis. Tiny flecks of paint from a jimmied door may turn out to be crucial when found on a burglar's clothing, simply because atomic particles emit specific radiation patterns when properly stimulated in a nuclear reactor. The patterns are projected on an oscilloscope screen, and if those from the burglar match those from the door, he might as well plead guilty. Developed by General Dynamics Corp.'s General Atomic Division, N.A.A. has already won convictions in Canada, New York and California, was used to link Lee Oswald with the rifle that killed President Kennedy.

> VOICE PRINTS may solve the now virtually impossible task of catching obscene, threatening and anonymous phone callers. Variations in size and shape of vocal cavities give each human voice a unique sound, explains Bell Telephone Labs' Dr. Lawrence G. Kersta, who developed the technique. By means of a sound spectrograph, Kersta converts spoken words into picture patterns that he says identify the speaker as reliably as his fingerprints. The system works no matter how the voice is disguised. At this stage, voice prints require wiretapping, which may pose legal problems, but someday police may record every suspect's voice as routinely as they now do other physical characteristics.

> OLFACTRONICS is a fancy word for a new science of smell being developed by researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology. As they see it, men should be able to smell as well as dogs--that is, tell people apart by each individual's distinct chemical signature. So far, the researchers have found that human odors can characterize a person's age, sex, race, diet, health and general area of residence. Though still highly experimental, telltale smells could become an important tool. Under contract to the Federal Aviation Agency, the Illinois team is now working on a machine to sniff out bombs on airplanes.

Speedup. Of all new crime-fighting ideas, the most promising are those using computers for a quantum speedup in standard police procedures. The basic problem--information retrieval--became painfully clear to New York State police when they collared more than 75 alleged Mafia leaders at the famous Appalachia meeting of 1957. Since the suspects all refused to talk, the cops duly set out to assemble their records. As it turned out, one man alone was the subject of 200 separate police files, and the whole job took more than two years.

From that experience emerged one of the country's most advanced police-reform efforts: the New York State Identification and Intelligence System. Set up in 1963, the system is run by Robert J. Gallati, a former New York City assistant chief police inspector and holder of four law degrees. Gallati's goal is nothing less than the computerization of all crime data now scattered among the state's 3,636 law-enforcement agencies.

It now takes seven days and ten clear fingerprints for police in one section of New York to identify a suspect from another part of the state. Gallati plans to convert all fingerprints into mathematical formulas and store them on magnetic tape along with all data on personal appearance and every crook's modus operandi (working methods). With only one or two fingerprints, telephone-linked computers can then "search" police files across the state, yielding positive identification from hundreds of miles away in only two hours.

Big Brother. One of Gallati's liveliest ideas involves the state's 40,000 stolen cars (one out of every 300 on the road). While 90% are recovered, the police rarely catch the thieves. Solution: all "wanted" license numbers will be stored in a central computer, which is telephone-linked to ten electronic analyzers stationed up to 450 miles away. Each analyzer in turn is linked to 40 TV cameras hidden behind toll booths, stop signs and traffic lights. As the 400 TV cameras monitor every passing license plate, the analyzers encode the digits and the computer compares them with the wanted list. The whole thing takes less than one second --time enough to trip an alarm back at the camera and send lurking prowl cars into action.

All this may sound like Big Brother, but even civil libertarians are convinced that Gallati's ideas will, in fact, safeguard rights by enabling police to distinguish between veteran crooks and first offenders. "If a quick check shows you have no record," says Gallati, "the desk sergeant will simply give you a summons to appear in ten days." For suspects with criminal records, on the other hand, the system will work like a one-way magic carpet--to the clink.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.