thursday, march 16, 1978
page 1 1
daily nebraskan
Identi-Kits make police artist's job almost obsolete
By Laura Castleberry
A young woman has just had her purse snatched by a
young man. She got a quick glimpse of him and she calls
the police to report the crime. They ask her for a descrip
tion. AU she remembers is the man's long hair, slightly
pointed chin and big nose.
Nevertheless, Lt. Hal Maxey of the Lincoln Police De
partment may be able to help her. Maxey is the closest
thing LPD has to a police artist.
According to Maxey, hand-drawn sketches of suspects
are becoming obsolete, being replaced by new national
police equipment called Identi-Kits.
The Identi-K.it is a composite file of separate drawings
that contain different facial features such as hair, lips,
chins, eyebrows, glasses and wrinkles.
"The composite kit has pretty much taken the place
of a police artist," Maxey said. "The larger cities
may have a hired artist to fill in certain features, but the
kits have made police art almost obsolete."
When a victim or witness reports a crime, Maxey said,
the police officer will ask if the suspect can be identified
or described. The next step is the composite file.
Maxey said the kit most often is used in robbery,
molestations and shoplifting.
After a composite is made (an average composite takes
about an hour to complete), police can check the mugshot
book, he said.
Any officer can use the Identi-Kit, Maxey said, but he
does most of the work because of his art background.
Maxey said most composites are accurate and help lo-
T 1 ' 1 '
cate suspects. In some cases, the composites are nearly
identical to the suspect.
The kit is used at least twice a week in Lincoln and
is essential in most sex crimes, he said.
Identi-Kits are rented to police departments on a na
tional basis so all departments have the same composite
identification numbers.
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Photo by Bob Pearson
Lincoln police Lt. Hal Maxey, an LPD artist, says his creative job is becoming obsolete with the addition of
Identi-Kits, a standardized method of developing suspects' likenesses.
1
Bill Evans
with
Phllly Joe Jones
Thurs Mar 16 8 pjn. ODonneM Auditorium
Nebraska Wesieyan Campus Tickets available
at Dirt Cheap, Brandeb Ticket Outlets, Lincoln
and Omaha and at the door the night of the
concert For information call 477-6061 Lincoln
or 399-6640 Omaha
The Lincoln
Supported by the Nebraska Arts Council
Consumer guidelines
People are not always fair.
People grow up hearing that but they often
forget it during business transactions.
It is important to remember that when signing
any agreement, it is, in most cases, legally binding
and cannot be broken, unless both parties agree.
There are however, exceptions to most rules. One
exception is a new ruling from the Federal Trade
Commission concerning sales of $25 or more. This
rule allows persons three business days to cancel a
contract signed in a door-to-door sales transaction.
The salesperson must give the customer a con
cellation form clearly explaining this right and how
to exercise it.
Upon cancellation, the salesperson must refund
all money or trade-in merchandise taken at the time
of a sale. The customer must return all merchandise.
Tips to avoid contract hassles include reading and
understanding the contract, making sure all agree
ments are in writing and making sure all guarantees
are clear.
Any problems with transactions should be
reported to the Cornhusker Better Business Bureau
or NUPIRG (Nebraska University Public Interest
Research Group).
This information was taken from a publication of
the Cornhusker Better Business Bureau, and is spon
sored by NUPIRG.
crossword
Opinions on Northeast Radial
to be offered soon by UNL
ACROSS
1 Audacious
S Ironically
extravagant
9 Cutting tool
13 Shipworm or
boll weevil
H Plant with
fleshy leaves
15 Bird with a
weird cry
16 Capital of
Guam
17 Loch's relative
18 Set right
IS Useless search
22 Antilles
23 Spare
24 Old oath
27 Inhalant
31 Salmagundi
35 Comstock
ingress
37 Yellow pigment
38 Houseleeks
41 Prime minister
who resigned
after
Comwallis's
surrender
42 O 'Casey or
O'Kelly
43 Sultanate of
Babe Ruth
44 Burdens: Lat.
45 Main veins of
leaves
47 Pay up
5 Novelist Welty
55 P!iy with
(squander)
59 Rajah's spouse
SI Parisian's
"Help!"
CI Rub out
2 Track figures
C3 Small recess
C4 Dark brown
shade
CS TV Mud 10
device
CC Poet Sexton
S7 One of triplets
DOWN
1 Apparition
2 Certain tests
3 Imparts
4 Sugarcoated nut
5 Roman consul
Word of regret
7 Mushroom
8 The "d" in l.s.d
9 Franklin's
annual
compilations
10 Suffices
11 Kind of defense,
in sports
12 Tackle's
neighbor
13 Bellow
20
21
25
26
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
36
39
Church fixture
"Cry ' and
let slip the dogs
of war": Shak.
Increases
Las Vegas
patron
Hot-weather
word
Trieste wine
measure
Musical sign
"Decidedly
not!"
Biographer
Kdel
Dictator's
phrase
Fate of one sent
to Coventry
Bangkok man
. . and of
hair": Kipling
40 " We Cry."
book by Ilka
Chase
16 Most certain
48 Ethiopian lake.
source of the
Blue Nile
19 De Valera
51 Venturesome
one
52 Giraffelike
animal
53 Violinist's need
54 In Neptune's
realm
55 Pedestal part
56 Loosen
57 When both
hands are up
58 Flood fighter's
barrier
59 What footpads
do
"j g E G Ti E 7 Is I 19 10 11 12
" "HHH
" 7
r 53 21
5 5 ZZ
' ' 24 iS b6 " f9 30
31 3I (13 h " ST" 36 37
M z
- 1 1
5 5
' ' Zt 48 (49 50 51 52 53 54
teTpr 57 I5
b !LZZ
- 54
5 I 1 L
By Randy Essex
UNL soon may offer an opinion to the
Lincoln Public Works Department stating
that NU would like to see the proposed
Northeast Radial built as far east of city
campus as possible.
A proposal suggesting thai the radial run
cast of 16th and 17th streets will be con
sidered by the NU Board of Regents Satur
day. If the regents approve the proposal,
it will be forwarded to the public works
office according to Ray Coffey. UNL
business manager.
Charles Fellingham, ASUN first vice
president, said the ASUN senate would
vote-Wednesday concerning ASUN legisla
tion recommending the Northeast Radial
run no farther north than 0 street and no
farther west than 21st Street.
If passed, the recommendation will be
forwarded to the regents and to the public
works office.
Nine alternative routes have been pro
posed for the radial, which would be
designed to accommodate further traffic
from northeast Lincoln to the downtown
area, said Bob Snow of the Public Works
Department. The traffic now takes 16th
Street.
Snow said that his office is collecting
citizens' comments concerning where the
roadway should run.
"Traffic on 16th and 1 7th streets is high
speed at present," Coffey said, adding "1
think the proposal to move through traffic
off of those streets is consistent with the
1968 campus plan."
Snow said traffic now is slowed bv con
flict with UNL pedestrians.
"We want to accommodate traffic needs
for the next 20 years," Snow said, "and
16th and 17th streets probably could not
hold all of that traffic much longer."
The nine alternatives are the result of a
study begun last July. The alternatives
were presented at a citizens' information
meeting last week, leading to the citizens'
comment period until April 7, Snow said.
The least expensive alternative offers no
change while the next least expensive
would route traffic south on 17th Street.
"This alternative is particularly bad."
Coffey said. He explained that 1,500 stu
dents live on the east side of 17th Street.
There are 1 ,500 parking places and many
recreational facilities on the east side of
17th Street also, he said.
"The potential disruption this alter
native offers to the university is great,"
charged Coffey noting "the proposal sent
to the regents suggests that the radial be
built as far to the east as possible."
The cost of road construction, reloca
ting businesses and other expenses is not
known at this time for eight of the alter
natives. Snow said.
"Of course, it wouldn't cost us anything
if we don't change existing routes." he
Said.
Snow said that at least 70 percent of the
money needed for any changes would
come from the federal government.
The number of alternatives will be re
duced by a guidance group after citizens'
comments are gathered, and a final alter
native eventually will be sent to the City
Council. Snow said.