Describing A Person

If you are a victim of crime, a witness to a criminal act, or you see a person acting in a suspicious manner, it is important for you to know that the more information you can provide about a suspect or a suspicious person to the police, the greater the chance that the suspect or suspicious person will be identified and/or apprehended. Below are tips about the type of factors that can be used to describe persons:

General Information

• Gender, race, approximate age, approximate height, approximate weight.

Clothing

• Description of glasses, hat, coat or jacket, shirt, pants, shoes, gloves, skirts, jewelry, or absence of any of these items.

Hair Style and Color

• Hair color, hair style (long, short, medium, balding, straight, curly, wavy, afro, braided).

Facial Hair

• Full beard, goatee, mustache, unshaven, sideburns, clean shaven, facial hair color.

Eyes

• Color, crossed, bulging, squint, blink, afflicted.

Unique Facial Characteristics

• Protruding ears, pierced ears or other facial piercing, flat or long nose, harelip, protruding or receding chin.

Build

• Light, medium, heavy.

Teeth

• Gold, gold design, missing, caps, broken, protruding, very white, decaying, stained, dentures, halitosis (Bad Breath).

Complexion

• Light, medium, dark, pock marks, freckles, pimples, scars.

Speech

• Profane/abusive, soft, polite, apologetic, accent, stutter, deep, raspy, high, lisp, effeminate, educated or uneducated.

Missing Body Parts

• Ears, eye, arm, hand, finger (s), leg, foot.

Tattoo

• Face, arm, hand, fingers, body, names, initials, work phrases, picture, design.

Scars / Marks

• Forehead, face, cheek, nose, chin, arm, hand.

General Appearance

• Neatly dressed, dirty, ragged, western.

Person Wore

• Ski mask, stocking mask, Band-Aid, wig, gloves, mask, hat/cap.

Weapon

• Revolver, semi-auto pistol, shotgun, color, knife, size, other weapon and description.

Handiness

• Left or right