U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

To Catch a Thief

NCJ Number
178199
Journal
Corrections Technology and Management Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 1999 Pages: 14-19
Author(s)
Dale Stockton
Date Published
1999
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Las Vegas Metropolitan correctional officer Dale Naglich has often assisted police investigations by linking composites and surveillance photographs to identifiable suspects whose faces he has seen in the Las Vegas jail or in jail photograph files.
Abstract
Naglich has worked for the corrections agency for 10 years and has received multiple commendations from Federal agencies for his efforts. He attributes his ability to match facial features with a known person to his patience and innate talents. He also credits Detective Jim Hulsey, the police artist who draws the composites. Hulsey also tells him the story of how the suspect acted or was dressed. Metro Robbery Detective Gordon Martines comments that Naglich seems to have a photographic memory of faces and also has insight with jail letters and gang affiliations. He now teams with Correctional Officer Dante Tromba, who has expertise in gangs. Naglich and Tromba have developed a network of contacts to increase their effectiveness. A crucial element in their success is their ability to obtain information from inmates. They have made training videotapes of their interviews with inmates and have been able to identify inmate gangs that had been unrecognized and to solve inmate murders and counterfeiting rings. Naglich and Tromba also use inmates to help them identify possible suspects. They use a small room on the medical unit so that inmates can appear to be going for a medical visit. Thus, these correctional officer are bridging traditional gaps in the criminal justice network. Photograph