Bertillon System
Definition
Alphonse Bertillon's criminal-identification method using eleven standardised body measurements to create a unique record for each arrested person, enabling reliable identification of repeat offenders before fingerprinting superseded it.
- Devised by
- Alphonse Bertillon, 1879
- Core measurements
- Eleven standardized body measurements
- Superseded by
- Fingerprinting, early 20th century
- Base of use
- Paris police, France
Common questions
Why did the Bertillon system eventually fall out of use?+
Measurements required skilled operators using calibrated instruments and small errors accumulated, and the 1903 Will West case, where two unrelated men had near-identical anthropometric measurements, exposed the system's inability to guarantee uniqueness at scale.
Did Bertillon contribute anything beyond body measurements?+
Yes, he also standardized forensic photography, including the front and profile mugshot, and portrait parle, a systematic verbal description method, both of which outlasted anthropometry itself.
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