Anyone can use an alias. But not everyone has the same tattoos. Consider the cold case in Southern California, where some savvy police work and an elaborate tattoo helped police capture and ultimately convict Anthony Garcia for a liquor store murder.
The Los Angeles Times described the tattoo that helped pin down the murderer:
Each key detail was right there: the Christmas lights that lined the roof of the liquor store where 23-year-old John Juarez was gunned down, the direction his body fell, the bowed street lamp across the way and the street sign — all under the chilling banner of RIVERA KILLS, a reference to the gang Rivera-13.
Now Daytona Beach officials are talking about creating an inmate tattoo database. Capt. W.F. McClelland of the Volusia County Branch Jail says they're in the early stages of creating such a system.
He tells the Daytona Beach News-Journal that first they must work with county attorneys to determine what such a database will include.
"Do we just include the tattoos that are visible?" McClelland said. "What if an inmate volunteers to show us all of his or her tattoos? What do we do in that situation?"
A Florida Corrections Department spokeswoman tells the News-Journal that corrections officers within the state prison system make a note of any visible tattoos on prisoners who pass through the system.
