How sketch artist helps crime victims identify suspects

By , K24 Digital
On Mon, 8 Jul, 2019 15:58 | 2 mins read

By Brian Muchiri and Shukri Wachu

When one undergoes a traumatic experience, one tends to keep a memory of the incident for long. This, however, may not be the case when it comes to helping investigators to identify crime suspects. The face of a suspect may be erased in the victims mind.

In such cases, an experienced investigative officer has to be called in to help the victim identify those who assaulted them.

Corporal Daniel Njuki is one such officer based at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters. He is an expert in the crime research and intelligence bureau; a sketch artist to be precise. 

Njuki is usually called in after a crime has been committed and witnesses have been identified and are willing to give information on the crime.

Njuki always sit down with the witnesses and take note of the description they offer. Later on, he draws a sketch of the person that was described by the victims and witnesses.

“It is better when the witnesses are many and they give several descriptions because that way you can give the victims a chance to choose the one that resembles the suspect that committed the crime. One witness may give misleading information,” Njuki told K24 Digital 

He is constantly in communication with the witnesses and has to create a good rapport with them because he constantly has to keep in touch with them in case he needs any clarification.

Thereafter, victims are now called back to identify the portraits that have been drawn by the officer. Once a number of victims have settled on a few portraits, a search for suspects who resemble the portraits is conducted.

His skills have however helped the police a lot to close many cases including the 2002 Kikambla bombing, Fomer Kilome Mp’s Tony Ndilinge’s murder and recently the rape case at Moi Girls High School, Nairobi.     

Like any other job, Njuki faces some challenges in his line of duty. In some crime scenes, the crime is sometimes an inside job and that way it may be very hard for one to get the accurate sketch of the suspect.