Special uses

Police used Specials photographs in different ways.

They could show the prints to witnesses in an attempt to identify a perpetrator. Beat cops and detectives used the prints to familiarise themselves with the faces of people they might encounter in their work. From time to time, police also provided the photographs to press: direct reproductions of the images and sketches based on them appear in newspapers during the 1920s.

A R C Fulton, 9 August 1921.

See also: Sketch based on the Special photograph of Albert Raymond Clarence Fulton, Truth, 21 August 1921 [Trove website].

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Underworld

Behind the scenes: How to read a ‘special’

Around the world, police forces followed established conventions when taking mugshots. But Sydney police in the 1920s did things differently

Gold painted plaster bust of William John Mackay, Commissioner of Police
Underworld

Big Bill MacKay

William John MacKay (1885–1948), known as Bill, was a Scottish-born police officer who played a major role in policing Sydney’s underworld during the 1920s

Black and white image from the 1920s of a man who looks to be in his 50s.
Underworld

Bosses

Sydney’s underworld bosses were tough, resolute and violent – mess with one and you would know you had been in a fight

William John Mackay, NSW Police Commissioner
Underworld

Central Police Station – a policeman’s critique

Most of the Special photographs were taken in the yards at Sydney’s Central Police Station, located in the central business district next to the Central court complex