[ARTICLES] TOP TEN SNEAKERS IN CRIME!

As one of those aforementioned couch spuds (and a sneaker fan), I have noted with interest that the humble sneaker has left vital clues in many an episode of CSI. but HOW to separate fact from fiction? What role does the sneaker play in the forensic sciences? Aficionados may understandably muse over the merits of the speckled or gum sole, but the folks in the crime lab are more interested in the print shoes leave behind. As it happens, shoe prints are incredibly important clues often left at crime scenes.

The number of shoe print patterns out there is huge. Shoe print indices and databases have been developed in various countries. Commercial company Foster and Freeman have a range of software tools to identify shoes, including SICAR and SoleMate. Forensic Science Services (FSS) is a UK Government owned company that released an online footwear coding and detection management system this year, entitled Footwear Intelligence Technology.

I contacted Laura Mackin at the FSS who informed me that they have records of more than 20,000 shoe prints of which approximately 90 per cent come from sneakers. I was intrigued as to how the database was compiled; were they getting shoes from the manufacturers? From shops? As it happens, all of the prints come from shoes given to the FSS by the 43 police forces around the UK, either from marks left at a crime scene or from sneakers confiscated from a suspect. Interestingly, the FSS don’t have any special agreements with manufacturers. This was a bit of a disappointment as I was hoping to learn that the most comprehensive sneaker collection in the UK was at the FSS.

The FSS also offer the fantastically named ‘Cinderella Service’, which helps identify personal information about suspects including the angle of their footfall and weight distribution. Facey wrote in the journal Pattern Recognition that ‘shape and extent of the the general wear apparent on a shoe sole contains information about the foot function and gait of the wearer.’ The use of US Army anthropometric databases has allowed models to predict height based on shoe size. English tabloid newspaper The Mirror reported this June, with perhaps a hint of schadenfreude at the shoe manufacturer’s expense, that sneakers are the most popular shoes used by criminals as evidenced by shoe prints, and listed the top ten shoes for English crims.

The list I received from the FSS was exactly the same; so there haven’t been any changes in the sneaker buying habits of the criminal world in the last few months. Whilst this list may provoke some tittering amongst tabloid readers or annoyance for the manufacturers PR companies, no mention is made of what the top ten sneakers sold are, and whether the two lists are significantly different; ie most bad boys may wear the top ten listed but perhaps so do the general population in England. It would be interesting to see how these lists vary between countries. The data is also for all crimes, rather than category of crime. The FSS doesn’t store this info, and I can imagine the manufacturers are at least grateful for that.

As with any forensic test, the shoe print is not a tool to be used without caution. A survey in the 1996 issue of Forensic Science International demonstrated ‘remarkable variations’ in conclusions of shoe print reports from different laboratories examining the same cases! Hopefully computer databases have reduced the error rate. Miss Mackin (FSS) informed me that ‘footwear is the second most common evidence type after DNA and is capable of definitively putting someone at a crime scene, particularly thanks to the unique wear marks that each pair will have’.

The Mirror’s article has a quote from someone at Nike who said (in response to their shoes being six of the top ten worn in British crimes): ‘We are Britain’s best-selling trainer manufacturer so we’re not surprised we feature. We’ve no further comment.’ Whilst this indeed is common sense as previously noted, perhaps they should consider another approach; embrace it. I see it now, The Prisoner Pack; all orange Air Max 90s, black and white striped Air Max 95s. And why not cash in on the whole ‘all over print’ phenomenon and do some hyperstrikes that have an all over arrow motif!

This has been Nikolai for Sneaker Freaker
reporting from the Crime Lab.

Huge thanks to Laura Mackin at the Forensic Science Service Labs and Prof James Fraser at The University of Strathclyde.

Are you more of a William Hung than a Kelly Clarkson? Or are you a decent singerand wish you were a little better? Whatever your vocal skill, these tips for improving your singing voice are sure to get you singing and sounding much better.

Tip 1: Think about breath. Without proper breathing, you arent using your voice to its full potential. To find out if youre breathing correctly for singing, place your hand on your stomach and inhale. Your hand should move outyour stomach should be expanding, not your ribcage and chest. Thats because you need to support your breath with your diaphragmthe muscle underneath the lungs that inflates them. The diaphragm is activated by abdominal muscles, and its much stronger than the muscles between your ribsthe muscles youre using if your chest, not your stomach, expands with your breath.

Youll need to have strong breath to give your voice adequate support for singing. To do this, youll need to use your stomach and lower abdominal muscles to support your breath. Ab crunches and sit-ups can help you build up strength in this area that you can use to project your voice.

Tip 2: Focus on posture. Your breath travels from your lungs straight up through your mouth. If its passage is twisted, kinked, or blocked in any way, it wont be able to get out efficiently. How you stand has a big effect on how you sound. You should be standing with your legs about shoulder-width apart. Your chest should be lifted to give your lungs plenty of room to expand. Your shoulders should be back and relaxed.

Tip 3: Relax. If theres tension anywhere from your abdomen to your head, itll affect your sound. Your facial muscles, tongue and throat muscles, vocal cords, jaw and shoulders should all be as relaxed as possible. There are plenty of jaw and facial exercises as well as warm-up activities that will help you relax the muscles in your shoulders, face, and vocal cords.

Tip 4: Know where to put your tongue and soft palate. The soft palate should be raisedthis will give more space for your voice to resonate. The tip of your tongue should be placed at the back of your teeth. This will keep it from blocking your throat if its positioned too far back.

Tip 5: Watch what you eat. Theres nothing better for your voice than water. Period. If you have a performance coming up, avoid dairy and thick drinks for at least three days beforehand. Drink only water the day of the performance.

Tip 6: Dont strain. Pay attention to your body. If something hurts when you sing, youre either at the limit of your range or youre doing something wrong. You should be able to sing at a strong, healthy volume if youre maintaining proper breath control; if something hurts because youre singing too loudly, youre probably not supporting your voice well with your breaththe vocal cords are doing all the work. If you hurt when trying to hit certain high or low notes, however, it may be that youre trying for a note thats outside of your range. Its true that good breath control can expand your range, but the size of your vocal cords determines the pitches you can reach. You may not be able to hit certain notes no matter how well you support your voice. Its important to choose songs you can sing comfortably. Above all, dont try to sing if you have a sore throatyou may make it worse.

Tip 7: Warm up before singing. Dont go straight into a song without a good warm-up first. A good warm-up routine should concentrate on relaxing your body and getting your breath ready, and should start with simple deep breaths. It should progress to light humming from there, and then some scale work once you feel ready. Its important not to strain too hard during the warm-up processdont reach for notes that arent comfortable, and dont sing at the top of your volume.

Tip 8: Get a teacher. A good voice teacher can really help you improve your voice. Its sometimes hard to determine how you sound when youre by yourself; even the most dedicated singer can get into bad habits without feedback. A teacher can give you immediate feedback on how youre doing and address specific problems you may have.

Its a shame that so many people think they cant singand wouldnt be caught dead singing in public. In truth, singing is something anyone can learn to do. Follow these tips and practice, and youll have a singing voice youll be proud to show off.

Paul Morris is managing director of Rose Morris Music. For more information on musical equipment or to ask music experts any questions you may have please visit http://www.proaudiostore.co.uk To access a wide range of pro audio microphones visit http://www.proaudiostore.co.uk/gateway.php?deptid=15