(Newswire.net — November 30, 2015) St. Petersburg, Florida — Two St.Petersburg, Florida based doctors are now recommending the use of an effective skin typing test called the “Fitzpatrick Scale” for all state and local law enforcement agencies, corrections departments, and government agencies like the Federal Buuraeu of Investigation (FBI) to help actively prevent discrimination. This use of a simple medical skin typing test like this will easily help law enforcement to accurately classify citizens without any discrimination whatsoever. This is due to the way the Fitzpatrick Scale classifies people based only on skin and hair color, which prevents revealing characteristics such as nationality that could lead to people being discriminated against.
According to Thomas B. Fitzpatrick, MD, Chairman of the Department of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and an article he published in the Journal de Médecine Esthétique, the Fitzpatrick Scale is “a numerical classification schema for human skin color. It was developed in 1975 by Dr. Thomas B. Fitzpatrick, who was also Chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital Dermatology Service , as a way to classify the typical response of different types of skin to ultraviolet (UV) light. Later, it was updated to also contain a wider range of skin types. The Fitzpatrick scale remains a recognized tool for dermatological research into human skin pigmentation.”
The Ftizpatrick Scale easily breaks skin color down into these 6 easily remembered categories:
- Type I (scores 0–6) Pale white; blond or red hair; blue eyes; freckles — Always burns, never tans
- Type II (scores 7–13) White; fair; blond or red hair; blue, green, or hazel eyes — Usually burns, tans minimally
- Type III (scores 14–20) Beige skin tone; with any hair or eye color; quite common — Sometimes mild burn, tans uniformly
- Type IV (scores 21–27) Moderate brown; typical Mediterranean skin tone — Rarely burns, always tans well
- Type V (scores 28–34) Dark brown skin types — Very rarely burns, tans very easily
- Type VI (scores 35–36) Deeply pigmented dark brown to black — Never burns, tans very easily
The suggested use of the Fitzpatrick Scale for law enforcement purposes is the brainchild of research physician Leigh Mack, MD and Justin Mandel, DOM AP Doctor of Oriental Medicine who together realized that it it’s application can help to more accurately describe people without any prejudice or discrimination that can arise from trying to classify or describe citizens. A radio report for example with the Fitzpatrick Scale might sound like “Suspect is: Male, 6’, heavy (BMI 35), FS (Fox Sierra for Fitzpatrick Scale) 4, jeans, red shirt, running north on Oak Street 200 block” As you can see it takes away any labelling and leaves the report in just a factual, non-bias format but with enough information for other officers and personnel to identify the subject.
Dr. Mack has this to say about it, “Until recently, I did not consider this an option for other industries such as government records or law enforcement but I think it could have a great application to create a descriptive and fast assessment of people without any bias or label describing country or region of origin. The scale can give law enforcement a very accurate description of pigmentation of skin, eye color and hair color in just a single number. This would put the focus on a true clinical medical description of a person rather then a social, regional or national origin base. Because it is just a number it is hard to label the person, witness or suspect in a positive or negative fashion. I believe it could save departments time and money and also illustrate to public groups that no bias is shown in any description over radio or in written reports.”
Justin Mandel, DOM AP had this to say about using the Fitzpatrick Scale for law enforcement purposes, “repurposing a classification system and moving it from one industry and applying it to another totally different industry is a brilliant way to help innovate and make improvements. With it’s 40 year successful history It makes good sense for law enforcement to put this to use, especially in light of all of the incidents that have recently been happening nationwide.”
For more information about the use of this idea feel free to email Leigh Mack, MD and Justin Mandel, DOM AP at FitzpatrickScaleApplication@gmail.com .
For future information and/or to set up and interview contact:
Bruce Brown of Brown Marketing & PR in Los Angeles,
email: mastermarketman@gmail.com
cell phone for voice: (323) 240-1401
For text: (323) 873-8483
Rapid Health Response
449 Central AveSt. Petersburg, Florida 33701
United States
(727) 240-2141
FitzpatrickScaleApplication@gmail.com