Name/Title
Sussex Constabulary Photofit kit c1972Entry/Object ID
2526Description
Large aluminium case (approx. 50 cm x 26.5 cm x 22.5 cm) with handle to the top and attachments at the sides for a carrying strap. Marked to outside on printed label "Photofit Kit West Division". On top is a riveted metal manufacturer's label marked in red "T & D cases Hull England 0482 442296/7". There is also a "Dymo" embossed strip marked "Return to Littlehampton" The inside is divided into a number of compartments containing "Photofit" facial image strips with which to produce a composite image, these are marked with a copyright symbol followed by "Jacques Penry". There is also a special plastic holder to secure the assembled strips.Use
To create a composite image in order to identify an offenderContext
The first composite identity system using combinations of different facial features was introduced in 1959. It was an American system called "Identikit" and used transparent acetate sheets with drawings of features which could be assembled together to make a complete likeness. This system was first adopted by UK police forces in 1961 and is known to have been used in Sussex as early as 1962, when it was shared between the forces of East Sussex Constabulary, Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings (Eastbourne Herald Chronicle 10/11/62 page 18).
The similar "Photofit" system was developed in 1968 the UK by a photographer called Jacques Penry and used strips containing 40 different types of facial features that were cut from photographs, which could be put together to make a composite image. This system was first used in 1970 and continued to be until it was replaced with computer based systems such as "E-Fit" in the 1980s.
This particular kit is dated 1972 and the fact that it is marked to the Western Division of the then Sussex Constabulary based at Littlehampton, suggests that at the time each Division had at least one such kit.