HARVEY PRATT
Year Inducted:
2012
Harvey Pratt was born in El Reno, Oklahoma in 1941, and joined the Midwest City Police Department in 1965. As a Midwest City Officer he did his first witness description drawing of a homicide suspect resulting in an arrest and conviction. Pratt joined the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) in 1972 as a narcotics officer and retired in 1992 as Director of the Information Services Division. Pratt is also known for having designed the OSBI seal, badge and flag. Having spent over 43 years in law enforcement, Pratt has completed thousands of witness description drawings and hundreds of soft tissue reconstructions. His police forensic art work has aided thousands of criminal investigations and led to arrests and identification of unidentified bodies. Harvey Pratt is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in forensic art. His skills involved him in many high profile murder cases such as "The Sirloin Stockade murders", "The Green River Killer", Ted Bundy, Henry Lucas and Otis O'Toole. Pratt is currently a police forensic artist for OSBI and the only full time police forensic artist in Oklahoma. Considered a leading expert, Pratt has pioneered interview techniques used in law enforcement agencies across the United States. Pratt's witness memory enhancement interview technique aids not only in the drawing of facial features, but extracts additional suspect information that has proven to expedite investigations and aid in narrowing the suspect list. Pratt has used innovative techniques to create soft tissue reconstruction of unidentified bodies to create facial images of the victim in order for the public to view and identify the bodies. Pratt has developed and enhanced skull reconstruction, skull tracing, age progression, photo alteration and restoration and enhancement techniques for photos. Harvey Pratt is a Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal member and is recognized as an accomplished Native American Artist. His artistic talent has earned him numerous awards for his ability to express stories and expressions of life, art and religion of the Native American People in a variety of medias. Pratt has been recognized by the Cheyenne people as Outstanding Southern Cheyenne and was inducted into the Southern Cheyenne Chiefs Lodge as one of the traditional Cheyenne Chiefs.
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