Harris, John J.

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Northwestern University Illinois, School of Law: Scholarly Commons

Journal of Criminal Law and CriminologyVolume 48 | Issue 6 Article 121958How Much Do People Write Alike--A Study ofSignaturesJohn J. HarrisFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclcPart of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and CriminalJustice CommonsThis Criminology is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons.Recommended CitationJohn J. Harris, How Much Do People Write Alike--A Study of Signatures, 48 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 647 (1957-1958)POLTCE UNIONSwithout the supervision or regulation of any otherdepartment of the state. ... ."Upon further analysis the opinion found that thedisabilities and limitations of organizations ofpublic empioyees-including police-included: (1)lack of power to strike, on the basis not of statutorylaw or judicial opinion but of "the overwhelmingconcensus of legal and socio-economic opinion";(2) lack of power to negotiate a collective bargain-ing agreement, the relationship between a munici-pality and its employees being non-contractual; (3)lack of power to obtain a dosed shop agreement;appointments and promotions being based onmerit and fitness, not on membership in a labororganization; and (4) lack of right to enter into acheck-off arrangement; whereby union dues arededucted by the employer, inasmuch as a munici-pality cannot be used as an instrument for thecollection of private debt.On the basis of these considerations the opinionconcluded that: "In the case of public employeesthe right (to organize) is a qualified one dependentupon the legislative and administrative policy ofthe governmental agency," and upheld accordinglythe power of Chicago local government agencies"in their legislative and administrative discretion"to prohibit police officers from joining a laborunion. Other cities whose legal counsel have upheldlimitations or prohibitions of police unions in wellconsidered opinions, include Chattanooga, Tenn.(1945), St. Louis, Mo. (1945), and Wichita, Kans.(1946).The great majority of labor disputes in our com-munity, we are happy to report, are conducted ina peaceful manner. However, we have had ourshare of inexcusable violence and destruction ofproperty by picketing strikers.We believe strongly in the right to strike, and ofpeaceful picketing. The trouble with many strikersis that they demand the protection of the law, butthey refuse to obey the law. They insist that thelaw gives them the right to strike and the right topicket. The law does give these rights, but yousimply cannot interpret the conduct of pickets aspeaceful picketing where they resort to swingingbaseball bats, throwing bricks, littering the streetto the plant gates with nails and physically pre,venting non-strikers from entering a plant. At thispoint, a unionized police officer has to make hischoice between his sworn duty and his allegianceto the union.The mob action resorted to in many labor dis-putes is due mainly to the failure or unwillingnessof the union leaders to maintain discipline amongtheir strikers; and when the police take properaction to enforce the law and arrest such violators,they are accused by the union of being strikebreakers, and showing partiality to industry. Therole of a police officer in a strike situation is ticklishand unpleasant. If they try to avoid a physicalclash with picketing strikers, they are criticized byproponents of management; and if they keep theplant gates open, and quell violence on the picketline, they are called strike breakers.In twenty-four years as a police officer, thewriter does not recall a union organizer agreeingthat a police detail was necessary at the scene of astrike, regardless of the amount of violence. Like-wise, management complains that the policedetails are not sufficient to protect their plant. Howcan a police department possibly remain neutraland tolerate a union in its ranks, and resolve thisquestion?Many union leaders in my community withwhom I have discussed the unionization of policedepartments have, in private, expressed their op-position to organizing police departments. Theywill not, however, admit this publicly.Let's explore the possibilities of a police officerbelonging to a union when faced with the boycottof a business establishment, when all unions in thearea are called upon to actively participate in theboycott. Does it seem compatible for him to pa-trol such establishment for eight hours as a policeefficer and at the end of his tour, picket such loca-tion with a sign urging the citizens to refrain frommaking purchases?The ultimate goal of every union is to achieve adosed shop. What is your position as Chief ofPolice, are you in accord with such demands?The Jackson, Mississippi, action has attractedwide interest. The supreme court of Mississippion January 14, 1946, in City of Jackson v. McLeod(24 S. 2d. 319) upheld the dismissal of 34 police-men in Jackson on grounds of (1) insubordination,and (2) acts tending to injure the public service.The policemen had joined a local of the AmericanFederation of State, County, and Municipal Em-ployees and had refused to resign their member-ship. Their dismissal by the mayor in June, 1944,was upheld by the Civil Service Commission, buta trial by jury in circuit court in May, 1945, foundagainst the City of Jackson which then appealedto the Supreme Court. This court pointed out thatpolice must perform their duties without favoritismand should be "free from obligation of any otherCARL -B. Hi S TISallegiance whatsoever." The court had reference tothe pledge which each member of the local unionwas required to take. "I... pledge my honor toobserve faithfully the constitution and laws of thislocal... not to make public any of the privateproceedings of this local... support the productsand services of organized labor... and at all timesto bear true and faithful allegiance ... to thelabor movement in general."What is meant "to bear true and faithful al-legiance to the labor movement in general"? Itwould mean that in instances of strikes in smallindustries, that particular union could call upon aunion police officer to do picket duty at their plant,and if the police officer follows the regulations ofhis department, he at all times is armed. The ques-tion then arises... are you going to toleratearmed pickets?The primary obligation of a police departmentin any labor dispute necessitating the presence ofa police detail, is to remain impartial. It is impos-sible for a police officer to remain free of favoritismor bias, when he is required at all times to beartrue and faithful allegiance to the labor movement.In 1944 and 1945 the A.F.L. claimed to haveorganized local unions composed' entirely ofpolicemen in 45 cities of more than 10,000 popu-lation except one city (Centralia, Washington).Questionnaires were directed to these cities bythe Louisville Department in the month of July,1957. Forty-four of the 45 cities replied with thefollowing results.Within twelve years 28 unions, or 64% of thetotal replying, are no longer in existence, 16 cities,or 36% still have a union, 4 of this number aresmall in membership and considered inactive, andone is associated with a police benefit and pro-tective association. This leaves only 11 police de-partments of the 44 having unions at this time. Ifthe ratio of failures in these unions continue at thesame rate as they have during the past twelveyears, all of this group will be non-existent by 1963.The I.A.C.P. in September, 1944 published aspecial study "Police Unions and Other PoliceOrganizations". This study came to the con-clusion, "That for the most part departmentalrules, legal opinions, or defined policies exist whichpermit the proper officials to ban a labor unionfor employees of the police department; that somefew cities have permitted such unions to function,some of which have died through lack of intereston the part of the members, but most of whichhave not been given the sanction of city adminis-trators; and the appeal of labor union membershipis not very great to law enforcement officials onthe whole."The conclusion reached by the I.A.C.P. Com-mittee in 1944 was realistic and valid, the inter-vening years have only served to strengthen thisopinion that the best interests of a police depart-ment would not be served by affiliation with apolice labor union.[Vol. 48HOW MUCH DO PEOPLE WRITE ALIKEA Study of SignaturesJOHN J. HARRISThe author is an examiner of questioned documents and a partner in the firm of Harris andHarris, Los Angeles, California. In addition to his work in the questioned document field Mr.Harris serves as an Instructor of Questioned Documents at the University of Southern Californiaand has previously contributed to this Journal. This paper is based upon a presentation of his atthe annual meeting of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, an organizationin which Mr. Harris has been active for a number of years.--EDIToR.(I is suggested that the reader first inspects the illustrationsbefore reading the article).No two persons write exactly alike, but docu-ment examiners occasionally find persons whowrite with amazing similarity. From such inci-dents the experienced examiner develops a healthyrespect for "handwriting doubles".Nearly everyone can write and we are usuallyable to read what the other fellow puts down,meaning there must be a lot of handwriting simi-larities somewhere.Would it not be interesting if every adult sub-mitted a sample of handwriting using the same sizepaper, type of writing instrument, and text. Wecould count the Greek "e's", printed "S's", andother characteristics and come up with rough sta-tistical data on how much people write alike. But nosuch records exist so it is necessary to rely on othersources and one's own experience to answer thisquestion.The five illustrations show that some peoplewrite quite a bit alike (although never exactly thesame, given sufficient handwriting to compare).The illustrations also graphically point out whyprecautions are necessary in rendering opinionsbased on small amounts of writing.THm SMITH PHOTOGRAPHThe question in the Smith photograph (figure1): Is the "Smith" outlined in black written byany of the Smiths below? Or are they all writtenby the same person? Is the left column by oneperson and the iight column by another? Thesesignatures were signed over a period of approxi-mately ten years and under varying conditions,sometimes standing and other times sitting.Now that you have been completely misled, hereare the facts. Each of the twenty-one Smiths is bya different writer. The signatures were photo-graphed at the Los Angeles County Registrar ofVoters. They represent samples from less thanone-fifteenth of the Smiths on file. Most of thesepeople are named "John Smith".Each signature was individually photographed,holding the camera, and using available light,which will explain why a few of the specimens arefuzzy.That "S" is not so identifying after all. Couldn'tMr. Smith, right column, third from top, forge theSmith immediately below with a minimum ofeffort; in fact the less he tried, the better. Hewould just be doing what comes naturally.At the Voters Registration an overwhelmingnumber of "Smiths" sign their name using theconventional script "S". So many of these signa-tured lacked individuality and looked alike thatthey were not worth photographing.Snw SERIES, ET AL.The Shaw series (figure 2) is also from theRegistrar of Voters. Each signature is by a differ-ent person.Three types of Shaw signatures are shown.Systemic or conventional specimens are in the topcolumn while the lower left column is made up ofspecimens each with a disconnected "S" and ahigh beginning on the "h". And the lower rightcolumn has the flying "w".In Figure 3 the top "Harris" is a part of thewriter's signature, and the others are fellow voters.The "Dybdahl" series (figure 4) is unusuallysimilar, considering there are only a few peoplewith this name. Notice the capital "D", a shorti47JOHN J. HARRISFigure 1Twenty-One Smith SignaturesWas the Smith outlined in black written by any other Smith below? (For answer, read article.)HOW MUCH DO PEOPLE WRITE ALIKEFigure 2The Shaw SeriesHow many different persons wrote these signatures? (For answer, read article.)

How Much Do People Write Alike--A Study of Signatures

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How Much Do People Write Alike--A Study of Signatures

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