Our demonstrator for January was Lt. Gerard Scalley from the Woburn Police Department. He presented a demo in Forensic Art.
The meeting was held in the Guild Hall, First Congregational Church (middle side door), Sanborn Street, Reading, Wednesday January 13th, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
We have some photographs of the event in case you could not make it there in person. You can click on any of the images on this page to view a larger version of it. Then, use the Back button on your browser to return to this page.
Jerry began by giving us a test of our observation skills.
He held up the photo shown above and then asked the audience to describe it.
Some of us were better at that than others.
He also demonstrated that everyone sees things slightly differently.
For example, is the drawing that he is holding a duck or a rabbit?
Jerry does drawings from descriptions given by crime witnesses.
In the photo above he is holding a drawing (done by another artist)
and photographs of two suspects, showing the likeness in the drawing.
Another aspect of Jerry's work is doing age progressions.
This allows people to visualize what someone who went missing years
ago would look like now. He is holding a photo of a missing person.
In this photo he is holding the age progression done of her.
The skull in the background shows how faces are reconstructed from
the skeletal remains of murder victims so they can be identified.
Here is a closeup of the poster he is holding.
Lt. Gerard Scalley of the detective bureau of the Woburn Police Department holds a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice from UMass Lowell. He has received specialized training in Forensic Art, which is not limited to composite sketches but includes crime-scene sketching, post-mortem drawings, age progressions, and demonstrative evidence. His PowerPoint presentation and numerous sketches, as used in the world of criminal investigation, will highlight his talk, which promises to be extremely interesting, with touches of his keen sense of humor.
Lt. Scalley has attended specialized training by Stuart Parks Forensic Associates; Karen T. Taylor at Scottsdale Artist School; The Center for Missing and Exploited Children; and the FBI training center in Quantico, Virginia. He is presently studying with Kathy Cooper of Westford (president of the American Impressionist Society). Past instructors also include Craig Srebnik of Somerville and Roberts Howard of Haverhill.