§ SIR WALTER B. BARTTELOT(for Sir RICHARD PAGET) (Somerset, Wells)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If his attention has been called to a report in The St. James' Gazette, of 20th July, by which it appears that at the recent Middlesex Sessions, before the Assistant Judge, a detective of the City Police declared that a prisoner then before the 1127 Court had been previously convicted, that he was certain of his identity, that he had previously been in custody, and that he recognized him by his general appearance, ago, height, and a cast in his left eye; but that, on the production in Court of the previously convicted person, the detective at once admitted his mistake; whether his attention has been called to the French Anthropometrical system of registration of prisoners for the purposes of identification—the invention of Monsieur Alphonse Bertillon—undor which identification in very much, simplified, and mistakes are practically impossible; whether he will be good enough to consider the matter with a view to its adoption in this country; and, whether he will state to the House what is the number of photographs of persons now living who are registered in the Criminal Investigation Department as having been convicted of crime?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)My attention has been called to the case of mistaken identity before the Assistant Judge at the Middlesex Sessions. I am informed by the Commissioner of City Police that the resemblance between the two men was very strong indeed. Each of them had two scars on the chin and a cast in one eye, and they were of the same height. I have consulted the Police and Prison Authorities upon the French Anthropometrical system. They do not advise its adoption in this country, both on the ground of the expense and trouble which would be involved in taking the necessary measurements, and because they consider that the photographic system now in use is good enough for all practical purposes. The subject appears to me, however, to deserve further consideration. There are about 34,000 photographs registered in the Criminal Investigation Department; but the police cannot say if all the persons are living.