Bertillon

Alphonse Bertillon (1853–1914) was a French criminologist who devised the Bertillon system of criminal identification, also known as bertillonage. Born in Paris, he joined the Paris Police Department and headed the Bureau of Identification. In 1879 he introduced a systematic method that combined standardized body measurements with photographic records to identify suspects across time and space. The Bertillon system relied on precise and repeatable measurements of the body (for example height and various craniometric measures) along with a card catalog and mug shots taken from multiple angles, creating a unique identifier for each individual.

Although influential and widely adopted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the system required skilled measurement and careful record-keeping, and was prone to errors. It was gradually superseded by fingerprint identification, which proved more reliable and efficient, beginning in the early 20th century and becoming the standard in most police administrations. Nevertheless, Bertillon's work laid important groundwork for modern forensic identification and established practices around standardized photography and the use of documentary records in policing.