Person Identification by Gait Analysis and Photogrammetry

• NCJ Number: 208574
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 50 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2005 Pages: 112-118
• Author(s): Niels Lynnerup M.D.; Jens Vedel M.A.
• Date Published: January 2005
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Case Study
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

By using computer software Photomodeler Pro, this study compared synchronous images from different surveillance cameras and identified concurrent body features, so as to depict images of the perpetrator as a three-dimensional, high-precision, scalable, and measurable object.

Abstract

As part of the investigation of a bank robbery that involved murder, the authors conducted a forensic anthropological assessment of one of the two perpetrators, based on surveillance videos from the scene and subsequent comparisons with video footage of the suspects. Analyses were conducted of bodily proportions, walking gait, and bodily measures by photogrammetry (measuring by photography). One application of photogrammetry is the measurement of objects in a three-dimensional space, using photographs of the object taken from different sides and angles. Similar points on different photographs are identified, and a computer program calculates the x, y, z coordinates of the points, thus creating a virtual model of the object. The current study used Photomodeler Pro, a software package that executes these operations. The basis for using photogrammetry in the bank robbery case was the perpetrator's moving around in the bank, such that he was viewed by two cameras simultaneously. This paper presents the image material used in the analyses, the results of the analyses, and how the results were interpreted and presented in court. Although this method of determining whether or not a suspect in custody or under investigation is the person at the scene of a crime caught on surveillance cameras is not as reliable as DNA or fingerprint evidence, in cases where surveillance imagery is the only record of a perpetrator, these analyses may be useful. In the current case, such evidence was significant in convincing the trier of fact to bring a verdict of guilty. 7 figures, 1 table, and 14 references