“Did he have a tie?” asks Harrison High School senior Emma Prochno acting as a police sketch artist for a business law class. “No, tie. Just a shirt,” responds sophomore Aiden Edmondson.

Teacher Brian Heath had students watch a 15 second video clip and then asked his business law students to act as witnesses and describe the suspect to the student artist. “We are trying to check the validity of police sketches,” says Heath. “Only about 8% of criminals are caught based on a sketch.”

Aiden watched a short clip from the film “Misery” and did his best to describe actor James Caan: “I saw an old man with wrinkles. He had short hair with a receding hairline and was laying down in bed.”

“I had to ask the victim a lot of questions about the features of the attacker’s face to see if I could replicate it on paper,” says Emma. “It was helpful to know the face shape and the shape of the eyes to tie it all together.” 

Once the artists completed their sketches, Heath revealed the actual image of the suspect, placing it beside the student drawings. A wave of excitement filled the room as everyone compared results.  

“It was pretty good, pretty accurate,” says Aiden nodding in approval.

“I agree,” Emma added with a smile. “The picture he described was at an angle, which made it more difficult.”

Heath praised his class and the visiting AP studio art students for their attention to detail, noting how the exercise demonstrated both the strength and limitations of police sketches. He adds that as technology continues to advance—whether hand-drawn or digitally enhanced—will remain a valuable tool in solving crimes.