Off the 'Cuff

Last week, we had the pleasure to give our friends over at Telus Optik MyVancouver a little behind-the-scenes lesson on forensics:

As with most of the subjects our Programmers share at the Museum, there is always more to say than what time allows.  In that spirit, here are a few more bits of info you may find interesting about fingerprints:

Evidence is not always hard to find at crime scenes but when it is forensic scientists look for the more concealed traces that criminals leave behind that connect them to their crime scenes and which can be used in court. One of the investigating tools used is fingerprint identification that can be used even for crimes that are decades old.

Everybody has a unique fingerprint that is not shared by any other person. Every finger pad has a different pattern made up of lines, curves, circles and ridges. Forensic scientists look for general patterns in fingerprints to reduce the number of records needed to search through to find a match. Arches, loops and whorls in prints have patterns that all people share to varying degrees.

Fingerprints remain unchanged through their entire lifetime. If someone burns or shaves the pads of their fingers, the prints may disappear temporarily but will reappear as the skin repairs itself. Severe damage that affects deeper layers of skin may leave permanent scars but completely erasing a print is very difficult and the scars create new distinguishable characteristics that can be used when trying to find a fingerprint match.

The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) was created to help scan and digitally encode fingerprints. AFIS stores millions of fingerprint records and information in massive databases. Current AFIS computers search through a batch of 500,000 prints in less than a second.

Fingerprints come in three general types depending on how and where they are found. Patent prints occur when a substance such as blood, ink, or grease on the individual’s fingers left a visible print. Plastic prints occur when an impression of the fingerprint is left in a soft substance such as wax, soap or dust.  Latent prints are invisible and need special processing to be seen with either lighting or chemicals that help to expose prints such as cyanoacrylate vapor, iodine fuming, ninhydrin, and silver nitrate.

Quite often, forensics teams are working with prints or partial prints that are very unclear where the unique details may be difficult to see. Digital technology has helped to solve this problem. By scanning prints into a computer they can then enhance, improve, and clean up the computer generated image of the print. Changing the lighting, contrast, clarity, and background patterns can drastically improve the quality and make a previously obscured print jump into clear view, which helps to speed up the matching process and make it more accurate at the same time.

Still not satisfied?  Well, check out our forensics programs and other public and school programming.  There’s always more to learn.

Big thank you to Laura Shaw for assembling and explaining our fingerprinting factoids for this post!

Tags:   blood spatter · CSI · fingerprints · Forensics · Programs1 Comment

Melissa Edgar is an impressively educated, high-spirited, and hard-working volunteer.  She runs the gamut of visitor services, program assistance, archival assistance, and researching.  During her work in the archives, Mel has unearthed some goodies to share with us!  Enjoy!

As a volunteer at the Vancouver Police Museum, one of the tasks I really enjoy is inventorying our unsorted archival material.  Perhaps it is the organizer in me, or my love of the random, but I love going though those dusty boxes of papers and not knowing what I will discover.

Given the varied nature of our collection, I can progress from bemusement at a folio full of pictures of innocuous looking individuals ominously labeled ‘subversives;’ to shock at finding an envelope of crime scene photos.  In either case, I am happy to have a chance to learn more about the history of my city and province.  Many of my finds have sparked long conversations with the curator about the mandate and purpose of the Vancouver Police Museum.

Given our role in education, my discovery of an American Handbook on Disguised Weaponry from 1977 filled me with some disquiet.

Disguised and improvised weapons are also on exhibit in our museum – all confiscated locally by VPD officers.

Students, adults as well as seniors are equally drawn to this exhibit, including grisly items, such as those pictured below.

The Criminal Code of Canada defines a “Weapon“ as anything used, designed to be used, or intended for use in causing death or injury to any person, or for the purpose of threatening or intimidating any person.

So regardless of appearance, the intent of the object is its most important attribute.  We need to ask- was this object made to intimidate, harm or kill.

While disguised or improvised weapons demonstrate a certain amount of ingenuity their violent intent, whether realized or not, always makes me feel a certain amount of discomfort.  I wonder why humanity’s creative spark is so often lured astray by the romance of violence.

But creativity is an inherently positive force and the Internet is filled with stories of people making positive contributions through their creativity and ingenuity.  It’s time to be fascinated by those stories, those inventions.

Here are some you may have heard of.

Jack Andraka, Maryland, who developed a simple test for for early stage pancreatic
cancer (and who is now working with other young geniuses to build a tricorder!!!!)
Photo Credit: Ethan Hill

The “Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” Malawian, William Kamkwamba
Photo Credit

15-Year old Kelvin Doe from Sierra Leone, builds his own radio station
Photo Credit

Do you have any tales of invention to tell?  Know anyone who has used their creativity and technological know-how to benefit those around them?  Have you been impacted negatively by a disguised or improvised weapon Share those stories here.

Tags:   artifacts · ballistics · criminal code · Current Events · prohibited weapons · research · weapons1 Comment

For all the seriousness surrounding police dogs these days, here’s a welcome light-hearted moment…

When members of the Crown Prosecution Service in West Midlands, England (responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in England and Wales), asked the police department for a statement from a witness named PC Peach, they were told that would be difficult because Peach, while intelligent, was actually PD Peach—and “PD” stands for “police dog.”

But the CPS continued to insist on hearing from “the witness.” So, one of Peach’s handlers gave them what they were asking for…

To read more about PD Peach and his statement, click here.

Tags:   Current Events · dog squad · k9 · PD · police dogsNo Comments.

Rozzlyn Shipp is a volunteer Collections Assistant at the Museum.  Her weekly diggings through the objects and stories of the collection have uncovered an interesting tid-bit or two.  She’s offered to share some throughout her time with us – aren’t you lucky?

Living in the early 1920s and having just spent your savings of about $250 on a new shinny black Model T Ford – black because it was the only colour it came in – you might have worried about someone else taking it for a joyride. Earle E. Chapman had the same concern so he dutifully designed a patent for a ‘Shackle for Automobile Wheels and Spokes’. Chapman’s chunky shackle was made to wrap around the front felly of the wheel and through the spokes to keep it safe.

So much variety, how could anyone confuse their car with someone else’s?

Rest assured that great care was taken in the design to ensure your spokes would not be damaged from the shackle, however a new paint job might be needed if the shackle was left on while the car was driven away.

Like most car alarms today, with their annoying repetitive beeping sounds, the ‘Auto Theft-Signal System’ also made an unmistakable sound: cast iron against wooden tire against road.  Its design prevented the perpetrator from speeding off into the distance (72km/h was top speed then), and your shackle would leave a very visible trail in the street.  No bread crumbs needed!

An added bonus was clearly labeled on the shackle: “$100 reward for the arrest and conviction as a thief for grand larceny of any person operating the car or tampering with the signal for period from 1919-1922″.  Not really sure what happens after 1922.  I guess you need to invest in a new shackle!

The VPM has two Auto-Theft Signal System wheel locks in it’s collection:

Now I know this all sounds a little silly but one in ten cars manufactured during this time were stolen. Chief Constable Anderson and the VPD finally got tired of the complaints in 1920, and a one-man operation was established to determine whether the thefts were a result of ‘joy riding’ or the work of organized criminals.  Constable Higgenbottom was the entire Stolen Auto Squad, and he worked out of the Detective Office.  His duties included paying regular visits to auto-wrecks, garages and ‘other places where stolen auto parts may be located’. (VPD Annual Report, 1921)

Findings showed two common culprits… Mistaken Identify, being that your shinny new black Model T Ford looked very similar to everyone else’s.  People often drove off in someone else’s car. The second suspect was often YOU!  People would often steal their own cars and strip them for parts.  Claiming their insurance, they could double the value paid. Don’t forget the $100 reward too!

Things are a little different these days for joyriders.

Looks like a wheel shackle wasn’t a bad idea after all.

Tags:   artifacts · curators office · history · research · Sins of the City2 Comments

Actually, Boromir, you do.

You never know who might walk through your front door – especially when your front door is open to the public.

This past Friday, we were pleasantly surprised to see Simma Holt – one of Vancouver’s most interesting women – walk through our door.

Simma Holt came to visit the Museum with a vivacious group of 80-and-90-year olds from the Seton Villa Complex.  The joy of giving a tour to seniors is that they often have valuable insight into the very historical events you’re relaying.  Holt is the epitome of this statement, as she was a renowned journalist for the Vancouver Sun for a number of years.  She certainly brings plenty of insight – and some great stories.

Our programmer Brad was discussing the Museum’s Fallen Officers’ display with the group, and Simma piped up: “I was there when Officers Boys and Leddingham were killed, and when the media showed up, their guns were still smoking!”

Even more interesting is Holt’s part in the history of the Vancouver Police Department’s female officers.  Holt is well-known as a journalist who was always rooting for the underdog, and she had the kind of public voice that could really bring around change.  Bring about change, she did.

VPM Archives P00161 – VPD Call Room circa 1970

In the late 1960s, female police officers were slowly being taken off the streets and being brought into call and radio rooms.  A spike in public demonstrations (aka: the explosion of youth radicalism) during this time brought about a mentality that the Department had to use every ounce of their manpower to deal with the public.  Eventually, at the end of the decade, you simply didn’t see female officers working in the public.  Of the 812 officers in the Department in 1972, nine of those were women, all of them working inside.

Well, once Holt got a whiff of this trend, it was straight to the press!

Articles titled “Letters Tell a Tale of Woe”, “Policewomen Wanted”, and “Policewomen tied to Desks” were all published within three months of each other in 1972/3.  This, along with pressure from within the Department and from local women’s groups, resulted in a drastic and essential change.  In 1973, on an “experimental basis”, female officers were sent out into the operational field alongside their male peers.  It was an experiment gone perfectly.  The women proved they were up to the job of being full-fledged police officers, and gender never again determined an officer’s place within the department.

Simma Holt seems to have been at the right place at the right time, and with the right amount of “screw that!” attitude to really help make a difference.  Her influence within the female ranks of the VPD lingered for many more years, as multiple female officers site her outspoken articles as their inspiration for joining the Department in the mid-1970s (including now-retired Deputy Chief Carolyn Daley – the highest ranking female VPD officer to-date).

Holt sees her name in print in the Women in Policing exhibit,
under Retired Deputy Chief Carolyn Daley’s biography.

This is far from Holt’s only place in Vancouver’s story, though, and you can read much much more about her incredible life here, here, and here.

Three women with many common interests: VPD Detective-Constable Lisa Kofod,
Simma Holt, and Museum Curator Kristin Hardie could nerd out about
Vancouver history aaaall day. And almost did.

Tags:   curators office · history · media · media interviews · research · women in policingNo Comments.

One hundred years ago today (December 14th), the public, the city’s VIP, and the media gathered to celebrate and mark the end of the Chief Constable Rufus Chamberlin’s illustrious career.

Chief Chamberlin

No one at the time expected the news that Chief Chamberlin was done with the city, and it sounds like no one was overly pleased about it either:

“Around the city news of Chief Chamberlin’s resignation will be heard with great surprise. He has been
an official whose work has been so uniformly successful that the possibility of his dropping out, or
leaving Vancouver, has been neither suggested nor considered.”
– Vancouver Daily Province Nov. 16, 1912

How could you tell a secret agent before the invention of the earpiece?

Rufus G. Chamberlin arrived in Vancouver in 1907 specifically to take over position of Chief Constable from Chief Chisolm. Before his arrival, Chamberlin lived in Ottawa where he was an inspector with the Dominion Police – Canada’s Secret Service.

He did good things in Vancouver, taking steps to professionalize the department and to advance their techniques.  He was the Chief at the helm when Lurancy Harris and Minnie Millar were hired as Canada’s first female police officers.  Five years was enough, though, and he left to take a position at the Canadian Pacific Railway service under Sir Thomas Shaugnessyin Montreal.

Vancouver’s media personalities felt the need to shower Chief Chamberlin with compliments about his service, and what says “compliment shower” like a letter burned into leather?  Turns out it was a great decision, because the letter has stood the test of time, in almost perfect condition today.

Written and presented December 14, 1912

The letter was generously donated to the Vancouver Police Museum by the Chamberlin family last week so that it would be in our collection on it’s 100th anniversary.

Cathi Wallis (orange shirt) and her brother Ray Chamberlin (far left) are the great-great-grandchilren of Chief Chamberlin. There are three other generations in there! As a collective, the family donated the letter to the Museum just in time to mark an amazing anniversary.

It will take some time to assess the letter, make sure it’s well framed, and you can expect to see it up in the Museum sometime in the new year!

Tags:   artifacts · curators office · history · research1 Comment

The good times keep rolling here at the Museum, and we are pleased as punch to announce our next special event:

Aaron Chapman will be gracing us with his presence on December 13^th to give us – and you – the inside scoop on the writing of his latest book Liquor Lust and the Law, the story of Vancouver’s Legendary Penthouse Nightclub.

So festive!

It’s hard to know where to start with explaining the awesomeness that is Aaron Chapman.  A musician, a writer, a historian, Aaron has an uncanny ability to unearth Vancouver’s juiciest stories.

Personally, I started noticing that Aaron’s idea of “interesting history” was very much in line with my own when he wrote this article (published by VanCourier) on the history of Vancouver’s gangs.

His most recent foray into Vancouver’s shady side takes the form of his newly published book, and it’s been getting some great press coverage.  Check out some of these articles:

Scout Magazine

Vancouver is Awesome

The Commentary

So seize this unique opportunity and come on down to the Museum for Aaron Chapman’s book reading and signing on Thursday!  He’ll be telling more than he wrote on the history of Vancouver’s favorite peeler bar, painting a colourful history of vice squads, raids, steaks (steaks?!), judges, and mobsters at the book reading.  Admission is free and includes a looky-loo at the Museum.

I don’t want to say that there won’t be any strippers, but there won’t be any strippers. Sorry boys.

If you have any other questions, or want more details, contact us anytime.

Tags:   Current Events · historical crime · history · Marketing · Special EventsNo Comments.

When John Belshaw and Diane Purvey first contacted the Museum’s Curatorial Department to see if we had any good photos in our photo collection, we knew they were up to something interesting, but we had no idea just how interesting things could get…

Their newly published book Vancouver Noir is a gritty, black-and-white journey into Vancouver’s history from 1930 to 1960. It is sure to replace the “aw, history, how quaint” sentiment with “woah, that happened here?!”

Just check out these chapter titles:

All the good stuff!

The book is filled, front to back, with stories, photos, and facts that will make you see the city (and its history) in another light – a high-contrast film-noir light.

It’s not hard to see why we’re brimming with excitement to announce that the Vancouver Police Museum will be hosting Belshaw and Purvey on December 6^th for a book reading and signing.

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to hear the gripping stories of Vancouver’s noir days from the authors themselves!  Admission to the event is free.

For more information, check out our website or contact us.

Tags:   historical crime · history · Special Events · true crime · Vancouver NoirNo Comments.

There are certain people who enter a room and command attention without a word and who are topic of conversation long after leaving.  Whistling Bernie Smith was one of those people.

Bernard Merle Smith joined the Vancouver Police Department in October 1946 after being in the military from 1941 until 1945.  As a Sergeant in the VPD in 1974, he received a commendation from the Department.  The report for his commendation states:

“Your enthusiasm is catching and has helped motivate the constables you serve.  When a speaking task has been given to you it was completed without hesitation, in a very able manner.  You have also been very community minded, and have helped make the “East End” a better place to enjoy.

“Some of your methods have been unorthodox and no doubt viewed with trepidation – at times, however you have obtained results legally with no embarrassment to the Department, infact you have brought the Force considerable praise.”

To understand what is meant by the above quote, you need only watch the documentary created by the National Film Board in 1975, aptly titled “Whistling Bernie Smith”.

See the Documentary here: http://www.nfb.ca/film/whistling_smith

He certainly commanded our attention while he was with us, and has left us talking about him now.  From beat cop to legend, Sergeant Smith will be remembered, and his story told, for many many years to come.

Tags:   beat cop · downtown eastside · whistling bernie smithNo Comments.

We are proud to announce that we are working with the Firehall Arts Centre for the run of their newest play Kid Gloves.  It is a rare and special educational opportunity!

On November 14, 21, & 28, the Firehall and the Vancouver Police Museum are offering a double header in the form of a Lunchtime Q&A session with two currently serving members of the Vancouver Police Department and the matinee performance of Kid Gloves!

Colleen Wheeler and Dawn Petten in Kid Gloves by Emily Cooper

You will begin at the Police Museum, where Constable Alison Gailus and Constable Jennifer Luccock, will be sharing their experiences as female officers and answering questions about the challenges of contemporary policing, particularly in an inner-city neighbourhood like the Downtown Eastside.

The session will offer attendees the chance to consider the evolution of women’s roles in society and the ever-changing nature of law enforcement, the justice system and society itself. Take a tour of the current exhibit, 100 Years of Women in Policing, and see how the role of women in the force has evolved.Then, walk next door to the Firehall to catch the 1pm performance of Kid Gloves, a fictionalized account of Canada’s first two female policewomen who were hired by the Vancouver Police Department in 1912.

This great opportunity gives you the chance to hear from officers today about their experiences and then travel back to the beginning of women in the force.  Great for secondary school and university students as well as history buffs and police aficionados.

Open to groups of 10 or more, there is limited availability so book today!  Call the Firehall box office at 604.689.0926 for more information and pricing.

The Lunchtime Q&A is offered with the support of the Vancouver Police Foundation

Tags:   arts · firehall · history · play · police · Programs · Special Events · vancouver police museum · women · women in policingNo Comments.