The Vidocq Society of Philadelphia
Volunteers who Investigate and Solve Cold Cases
The Vidocq Society members, all volunteers from the ranks of law enforcement and forensic science volunteer their time and resources to solve cold cases.
The Vidocq Society - an Exclusive Crime Solving Organisation
The Vidocq Society (pronounced vee-DUCK) is an exclusive crime solving organization that meets monthly on the top floor of the historic Public Ledger Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States of America.
The Society was founded about a decade ago by three men well known in criminal solving circles:
- William Fleisher, a former police officer, FBI agent and Customs Service administrator
- Frank Bender, a forensic sculptor and reconstructionist whose work is recognized by professional crime fighters around the world and
- Richard Walter, a forensic psychologist and criminal profiler.
Who or What is Vidocq?
The Vidocq Society honors Eugène François Vidocq (1775 – 1857), the brilliant 18th century French detective. Like fictional French Inspectors Jacques Clouseau and Hercules Poirot, Eugène François Vidocq was a colorful and interesting man.
He was a French crook-turned-cop who was a confidant of at least two famous contemporary French writers and an inspiration for many others around the world. Today, outside the files of the Sureté, the detective bureau of the French police that he helped create, he is rarely recognized.
Vidocq in Literature- Hugo, Balzac, Poe, Melville
Victor Hugo based not one but two characters in Les Miserables on Vidocq - both Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert. Honore Balzac's character Vautran, in Pere Goriot, was also modeled after him.
Vidocq's legendary crime-solving reputation was also further immortalized in literature in Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue and in Herman Melville's Moby Dick.
Father of Criminal Investigations
But much more than this, Eugène François Vidocq is considered by historians and those in law enforcement to be the father of modern criminal investigations. In his own words:
“I have the consolation of having remained an honest man amid the darkness and the atmosphere of crime. I have fought for the defense of order, in the name of justice, as soldiers fight for the defense of their country, beneath the flag of their regiment. I had no epaulettes, but I ran as many risks as they, and I exposed my life everyday as they do.”
The Vidocq Society Solves Cold Cases
At the monthly Vidocq meetings Vidocq Society Members (V.S.M.'s) evaluate, investigate and refocus on cold cases by applying their collective forensic skills and experience.
Forensic Professionals are Members
V.S.M.'s are all forensic professionals; current and former FBI profilers, homicide investigators, scientists, psychologists and coroners who volunteer their time and experience to solve cold cases. When cases that have been submitted to them meet Vidocq's criteria, the V.S.M.'s provide their services free of charge.
By decree of its founders, the Society is limited to precisely 82 men and women, a semi-secret list of law enforcement and forensic professionals, each of whom has to be voted into membership. The number was chosen because each member represents one year of Eugène François Vidocq’s life.
The Society also has some 70 associate members and is represented in 17 States in the USA and 11 countries, from Asia to the Middle East, Canada to South America.
*** Note:
Vidocq the Movie
Pitof made a movie called Vidocq in 2001 where he pits the legendary criminologist (played by Gerald Depardieu) against a supernatural soul-stealing monster called The Alchemist. It is notable as being the first major science fiction film to be shot entirely on digital.
Sources:
Case Unclosed – the Vidocq Society
