In 1855,
Allan Pinkerton, founder of the
Pinkerton National Detective Agency, established a rogues' gallery – a compilation of descriptions, methods of operation (
modi operandi), hiding places, and names of criminals and their associates. Another early collection was established circa 1854 or 1855 by the detective
Isaiah W. Lees of the
San Francisco Police Department. Inspector
Thomas Byrnes of the late-19th-century
New York City Police Department popularized the term with his collection of photographs of known criminals, which was used for witness identification. Byrnes published some of these photos with details of the criminals in
Professional Criminals of America (1886). ==See also==