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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sr. No. PARTICULARS PAGE No.

1. What Is Gait? 3

2. Significance of Gait Analysis 5

3. Gait Analysis in Forensic Science 6

4. Limitations of Gait Analysis 8

5. Bibliography 9
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WHAT IS GAIT?
Gait means a person's manner of walking. The ability to recognize other individuals is
fundamental to human life. Identification by gait is a part of this process. Psycho
physiological studies have proved that the human being can recognize the sex of a walker
and friends and colleagues with a success rate up to 70-80%. The fast development of data
technology has now made it possible to generate computer models which can identify
people’s gait with more than 90% success.

Gait is the medical term to describe human locomotion, or the way that we walk.
Interestingly, every individual has a unique gait pattern. People can be recognised even from
a distance by their gait. Peculiarities such as lameness or particular body postures or
movements are easily recognizable. In case of lameness or any peculiar gait, medical
examination may be sought to exclude malingering. Features such as manner of sitting,
standing, walking, hand movement and facial movements or twitches are very often
characteristics of a person and difficult to disguise for a long time.

Gait analysis is the systematic study of animal locomotion, more specifically the study of
human motion, using the eye and the brain of observers, augmented by instrumentation for
measuring body movements, body mechanics, and the activity of the muscles. 1

The study encompasses quantification, (i.e., introduction and analysis of measurable

parameters of gaits), as well as interpretation, i.e., drawing various conclusions about the
animal (health, age, size, weight, speed etc.) from its gait pattern.

The following are some of the basic measurements of gait.

1. Gait cycle: It describes the complex activity of walking, or our gait pattern. This cycle
describes the motions from initial placement of the supporting heel on the ground to
when the same heel contacts the ground for a second time.
2. Stance phase: Part of the gait cycle when the foot is in contact with the ground. The
stance phase can be further divided into 3 parts starting from initial contact of the
foot with the ground, to the whole foot in contact with the ground and finally the
heel followed by the toe lifting off the ground.
3. Swing phase: Part of the gait cycle when the foot is off the ground. Similar to the
stance phase, the swing phase can also be divided into initial and terminal swing.

1
Levine DF, Richards J, Whittle M. (2012). Whittle's Gait Analysis Whittle's Gait Analysis Elsevier Health
Sciences.
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4. Float phase: There is a float phase (when both feet are off the ground so that the
runner is literally floating in air!) both at the start of the initial swing and the end of
the terminal swing.
5. Cadence: Number of steps per unit time (usually steps per minute).
6. Stride length: Distance between successive initial contacts of the same foot.
7. Step length: Distance from initial contact of one foot to initial contact of the
opposite foot. Velocity increase is achieved by increase in step length followed by
cadence. With increase in velocity, more time is spent in float phase.
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SIGNIFICANCE OF GAIT ANALYSIS

Gait analysis is used to analyze the walking ability of humans and animals, so this technology
can be used for the following applications:

Medical diagnostics
Pathological gait may reflect compensations for underlying pathologies, or be responsible
for causation of symptoms in itself. Cerebral palsy and stroke patients are commonly seen in
gait labs. The study of gait allows diagnosis and intervention strategies to be made, as well
as permitting future developments in rehabilitation engineering. Aside from clinical
applications, gait analysis is used in professional sports training to optimize and improve
athletic performance. Gait analysis techniques allow for the assessment of gait disorders
and the effects of corrective orthopedic surgery. Many leading orthopedic hospitals
worldwide now have gait labs that are routinely used to design treatment plans and for
follow-up monitoring.

Biometric identification and forensics

Minor variations in gait style can be used as a biometric identifier to identify individual
people. Gait analysis based on biomechanical knowledge can be used as a valuable tool in
forensic medicine especially when combined with other methods such as analyses of stand,
facial recognition and photogrammetry to conclude that the suspect might be identical to
the perpetrator.

Recently, many closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras have been set up
around the world, and these cameras capture video continuously. CCTV footage can be
useful digital traces for forensic science, because a CCTV surveillance camera may record
incidents at crime scenes by chance, or record incidents at a place near a crime scene. CCTV
footage provides clues of the identity of the perpetrator in the former case and clues to
make a list of candidate perpetrators in the latter case.

On the other hand, these analyses may be used (especially photogrammetry) to exclude one
or more suspects. This may obviously also be a useful tool for the investigation of a crime.

Comparative biomechanics
By studying the gait of non-human animals, more insight can be gained about the mechanics
of locomotion, which has diverse implications for understanding the biology of the species
in question as well as locomotion more broadly.
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GAIT ANALYSIS IN FORENSIC SCIENCE

Forensic gait analysis is the identification of gait features and patterns of subjects seen on
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and from footprints forming a gait pattern left at the scene
of a crime. The height of an individual can be determined by his/her footprint and shoeprint.

The pioneers of scientific gait analysis were Aristotle in De Motu Animalium (On the Gait of
Animals) and much later in 1680, Giovanni Alfonso Borelli also called De Motu Animalium (I
et II).

Forensic gait analysis was first defined by “Kelly (2000) as the identification of a person or
persons by their gait or features of gait, usually from closed circuit television (CCTV) footage
and comparison to footage of a known individual. Gait recognition was later defined by
Grant (2006) as the process of identifying people by the unique characteristics of their
manner of walking, where features are extracted from a person’s gait in order to recognize
them.2

With the development of photography and cinematography, it became possible to capture

image sequences that reveal details of human and animal locomotion that were not
noticeable by watching the movement with the naked eye.

In forensic science, identity determination of perpetrators of crimes is an important issue,

and this determination must be done using only the limited available information that
remains at the crime scene. The limited available information can be physical marks on
surfaces or digital traces, and they differ from crime to crime. The physical marks on
surfaces include those of the finger, ear or feet, and digital traces include recordings from
phone-tapping and security cameras. If biometric features can be extracted from the
information, biometric person-authentication methods can be applied to determine the
identity of perpetrators.

The foot tends to be approximately 15% of the person’s average height. At times series of
footprints are left at the scene of a crime forming a recognizable gait cycle. The information
gathered during examination of footprints and also on closed circuit television (CCTV) may
be of value for forensic application. Individual characteristics of the footprints and gait, like
numerous creases, flatfoot character, horizontal and vertical ridges, corns, deformities, step
length, stride length, and stance phase, swing phase, step time, stride time, cadence, and
velocity observed on CCTV can help the forensic examiner in cases pertaining to criminal
identification.3

2
DiMaggio JA, Vernon W, Forensic Podiatry, Humana Press, p105, 2011.
3
http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2014/08/considerations-gait-crime-scenes Visited on 3/10/2015 at
8.40 p.m.
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The experts combine the basic ability to recognize people with biomechanical knowledge
and give statements whether or not a suspect could have the same identity as a perpetrator
in a given case by comparing the suspect’s posture and joint angles during gait with the
perpetrator’s.

Recordings from video surveillance systems are used as evidence from crime scenes. It
would be useful to perform comparisons between disguised perpetrators and suspects
based on their gait. Functional anatomical and biomechanical knowledge is applied to
analyze the gait of perpetrators, as recorded on surveillance video. Using a structured
checklist, which addresses the single body segments during gait, they are able to give a
statement concerning the gait patterns.

Based on these characteristic features, they are able to state with reasonable certainty
whether the suspect could be the perpetrator, but it is not possible to identify the
perpetrator positively.

If the resolution of the CCTV footage is high enough, to recognize a face, face-based person-
authentication methods can be used to determine the identity of the perpetrator. However,
the resolution of CCTV footage is generally low, and illumination conditions are sometimes
poor. Moreover, perpetrators often attempt to hide their faces to avoid being identified. In
such cases instead, gait-based person-authentication can be used.

Indeed, a burglar has been identified by his walking style (gait feature) in the United
Kingdom.
John Gibson Rigg was arrested after DNA evidence was found at the scene. But when
detectives noticed a man with a distinctive walk on CCTV around the time of the crime they
brought in expert podiatrist. The man on the footage had noticeable bowed legs and an
unusual way of moving his left arm. He was filmed in custody and the specialist found
matches. A podiatrist, who specializes in gait analysis, matched the man and the walk and
together with DNA evidence he was charged with two burglaries and was jailed for two
years.  

This type of approach can be valuable in a number of ways in that it is not always hindered
by types of clothing worn or even disguises.
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LIMITATIONS OF GAIT ANALYSIS

Many biometric features can be used in forensic science, although it should be noted that
we cannot select the biometric feature for identity determination in accordance with our
wish.

The available features are limited to the information that forensic experts can find at the
crime scene or related scenes, and they differ from crime to crime. Therefore, a single
identification method is insufficient, and a wide variety of identification methods employing
different biometric features are necessary in forensic science.

 Gait analysis requires that the police have found a suspect which can be recorded
and compared with the perpetrator.
 The major limitation is that it takes a considerable amount of time to obtain
quantifiable gait information from the optical images and this result in a high cost for
a gait laboratory test.
 When forensic experts want to identify a person using CCTV footage according to the
gait feature, they need to hand the task to specialists of gait-based person
authentication (i.e., gait specialists) because forensic experts (e.g., forensic scientists,
criminal investigators, and police officers) are specifically experts of crime
investigations and they do not have sufficient knowledge about gaits. Therefore,
they need to consult gait specialists or use consulting services to analyze the target
gait images. Asking for the help of a gait specialist is a reasonable solution, but it may
take extra time, and it is problematic to ask for the analysis of gait specialists many
times for each crime case. Therefore, the limitation of gait-based identity
determination from CCTV footage is that only few people such as gait specialists can
analyze the data.
 Gait analysis will probably never be evidence as strong as fingerprint or DNA but
they may be useful if no conclusive evidence is available.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

 http://research.ku.dk/search/?pure=en%2Fpublications%2Fgait-analysis-

in-forensic-medicine(9776a460-f914-11dd-b219-000ea68e967b).html

 http://www.am.sanken.osaka-

u.ac.jp/~makihara/pdf/btas2012_gait_forensic.pdf

 http://www.researchgate.net/publication/51411263_Gait_Analysis_in_F

orensic_Medicine*

 http://blog.ubersense.com/2011/08/09/what-is-gait-analysis-why-is-it-

important/

 http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2014/08/considerations-gait-

crime-scenes
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Found concordances in the gait pattern between suspect and perpetrator with respect to
pronounced side-to-side movements of the head and hyper extension in the knee joints as
shown in Fig. 1.