Ent Bullet ECEMBER 1974
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ent Bullet ECEMBER 1974 - CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR "It is . far more economical in nearly every instance to prevent crime rather than to solve it." A COMPARISON OF THE WOUNDING EFFECTS OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE HANDGUN AM• MUNITION SUITABLE FOR POLICE USE, by Vincent J. M. DiMaio, M.D. , J. Allan Jones, W. W. Caruth III, Louie L. Anderson, and Charles S. Petty, M.D., Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, Dallas, Tex. 3 BE SAFE FROM RAPE, by Deborah Griffin, Informa• tional Services Division, Office of the Commis• sioner, Police Department, Boston, Mass. 9 HAWAII'S CIVIL IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM, by Ernest T. Yonamine, Director, Bureau of Crime Statistics and Identification, Department of At• torney General, State of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 12 KNOWLEDGE, COURAGE, INTEGRITY-A MUST FOR TODAV'S OFFICER Graduation of the 98th Session of the FBI National Academy. 14 FALSE FIRE ALARMS-A PROGRAM FOR PREVEN• TION, by Officer John S. Brennan, Training Specialist, Police Department, Portland, Maine 16 LAB DIRECTORS MEET Second Annual National Symposium on Crime Laboratory Development. 22 INVESTIGATIVE DETENTION (Part Ill, by John Dennis Miller, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investi• gation, Washington, D.C. 23 INDEX TO ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN 1974 28 WANTED BY THE FBI 32 THE COVER False flre alarms represent a serious community challenge in terms of public safety. as well as wasted police and fire department personnel. Among ef• forls being employed to reduce the problem is public education, as shown in the cover photograph picturing a police officer instructing a citizen in use of police-fire call box. See related article, page 16. Photo courtesy of New Baven, Conn., Police Department. Message from the Director . .. RISING LEVELS OF CRIME are an alarming and crime rather than to solve it. The savings extend complex problem which, as we have seen over from one end of the criminal justice system to many years, does not lend itself readily to quick the other. or easy remedy. There is one area of crime deter• When applied to specific targets, reducing rence, however, which I feel strongly has not been opportunities for criminal attack-preventive given enough attention. That is the effort to reduce security or target hardening-has had startling the opportunities for crime. results. There are many examples, but I will cite Many crimes could have been prevented by two notable ones. the simple expedient of closing a window, lock• From 1968through 1972, actual and attempted ing a door, leaving a light on, securing val• aircraft hijackings were committed at a fearsome uables, removing a key from a parked car, pace that made them a more than every-other• choosing a busy thoroughfare to walk rather than week occurrence throughout the United States. a dark and desolate, but perhaps shorter, route. Following implementation of a preventive secu• There are countless others-all ordinary precau• rity program involving the combined cooperation tions-that could have been taken easily by citi• of the airlines, law enforcement and other govern• zens in every walk of life and by businesses both ment agencies, and the air-traveling public, air• large and small. craft hijackings have been reduced to a meager How many crimes could have been prevented? handful of their former number. There is no certain way of knowing, but it may be One of the most successful preventive security an awesome total. We do know, for example, that programs grew out of a rash of robberies in the most crimes against property-which represent Nation's Capital a few years ago. In 1967, there 90 percent of all Crime Index offenses-are were more than 300 bus holdups. Even worse, the crimes of opportunity. For the most part, they rate spurted to more than 200 holdups in the are not deliberately conceived or stealthily first 5 months of 1968. Besides the loss of rev• planned. Instead, the opportunity to gain by enue, the holdups accounted for 12 bus drivers crime presents itself in such an inviting fashion injured and 1 murdered. as to outweigh for some persons, for the moment at least, the risk of being caught. Since small The targets of the robberies were the fare boxes crimes, due to unexpected circumstances, fre• carried by each bus driver to make change for quently swell to grave proportions, or are at least boarding passengers. After mid-1968, no change training grounds for larger crimes, their reduc• has been made for fares, which must be deposited tion could have far-reaching effects in all cate• in a sealed cashbox beyond the control of the gories of lawlessness. It is also far more driver. Since then, bus holdups in Washington, economical in nearly every instance to prevent D.C., have become a rarity. ~ I MESSAGE Reducing opportumtIes for crime is the re• encouraging citizens to follow them. With the sponsibility of everyone. Law enforcement agen• Christmas season approaching, when most serious cies, particularly through their community rela• crimes are at or near their yearly peak, it is tions units, should be at the forefront in devising timely that the public and the profession redouble programs to protect persons and property and their efforts to reduce the opportunities for crime. CLARENCE M. KELLEY DECEMBER 1, 1974 Director r ------~----------------------------~------------ AComparison of the Wounding Effects of Commercially Available Handgun Ammunition Suitable for Police Use " . the severity of a wound is directly related to the amount of kinetic energy lost by the bullet in the body." By VINCENT J . M. 01 MAIO, M.D . J. ALLAN JONES W. W. CARUTH III LOUIE L. ANDERSON CHARLES S. PETTY, M.D. Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences Dallas, Tex. Selection of a new caliber or type effects of different calibers and com- T heory of ammunition is a matter of great mercially available ammunition for Research in the field of wound bal- importance to both police officers and use by police. listics during and after World War II law enforcement organiz~tions. Ideal- The Southwestern Institute of Fo- revealed that the severity of a wound ly, selection should be made only after rensic Sciences at Dallas has a contin- is directly related to the amount of extensive evaluation of the wounding uing program to evaluate the wound- kinetic energy lost by the bullet in effects of the available weapons and ing effectiveness of different calibers the body.' This means that the greater ammunition. Conducting such tests, and types of ammunition, so as to pro- the loss of kinetic energy, the greater however, is impractical for most police vide this information for both law the damage to the tissues, therefore, departments. It has only been since the enforcement organizations and indi- the more severe the wound. From this military services, in 1962, published vidual police officers.2, 3 This article the results of their research in wound presents a comparison by the institute it was concluded that the wounding ballistics that such evaluations have of the wounding effects of different effectiveness of different types and become possible.' The same theory calibers and commercially available calibers of cartridges could be evalu- and techniques of testing devised by cartridges used by law enforcement ated and compared by determining the military can be used with some organizations or considered suitable the amount of energy lost by each modification to evaluate the wounding for police use. bullet in passing through tissue. This December 1974 3 testing became more workable when subsequent research revealed that for TABLE I experimental purposes blocks of 20 percent gelatin at 10° C could be sub· Kinetic Energy Lost in Gelatin Blocks by Various Brands of 9 mm Parabellum Cartridges stituted for human tissue.' At this point, it should be pointed out that it is not the total amount of kinetic Bullet Muzzle Kinetic Manufacturer weight Style 1 velocity energy lost energy that a bullet loses in tissue that (grains) ±l SD~ ±l SD is of importance; rather, it is the en- (ft/s) (ftlb) ergy delivered to vital organs, i.e., brain, heart, lungs, and liver, that Winchester...... ll5 FMJ 1,132±37 107±15 causes incapacitation. In view of this, Norma .......... ll6 FMJ 1,165±36 llO±13 blocks of gelatin 15 cm in depth are Remington ...... 124 FMJ 1,108±ll llO±22 used for te ling. Penetration by a bul- Smith & Wesson. 100 FMJ 1,219±18 129±9 let beyond 15 cm (approximately 6 Do........... ll5 FMJ 1,175±36 130±24 inches) is not important, because be- Do........... ll5 FMJSWC 1,160±28 176±27 yond this depth the bullet would have Winchester 3 ••••• 100 SP 1,305±21 274±60 struck or bypassed the major organs Smith & Wesson. ll5 JHP 1,156±30 323±21 or would have exited from the body.2,3 Remington ...... ll5 JHP 1,196±18 330±14 U ing the aforementioned research Super Vel. ...... 90 JHP 1,382±17 377±15 theories and techniques, it is now pos- sible to compare the wounding effect 1 F~IJ-fllll FMJSWCfllll metal jacketsemiwadcutter of different calibers and types of car- metal jacket, SPsoft point, JHPjacketed hollow point. tridge by determining the amount of 2 SDstandard deviation. kinetic energy lost by bullets pas ing 3 "Power point." through a gelatin block. Methods TABLE II The te ts were conducted at a range of 15 feet from muzzle to gelatin block, Kinetic Energy Lost in Gelatin Blocks by Various Brands of .38 using weapons of the type commonly Auto, .38 Super, and .,15 Auto Ammunition carried by police officers: a Smith & We son 9 mm, Model 39 semiauto- Bullet \Iuzzle Kinetic matic pistol; a Colt .38 Super semi- Caliber/ weight Style 1 \'elocity energy lost manufacturer (grain..) ±l SD2 ±l SD automatic pi tol; a Colt .45, Model (ft/s) (ftIb) 1911 A I emiautomatic pistol; a Smith & We on .38 Special revolver, .38 Auto Model 15 with a 4·in barrel; a Smith Remington .