if you were in a hurry ... and you could only relay the absolute basics because of a time constraint (i.e. you need to communicate the "fastest ID" for a particular SV target) .. which ones do you choose?? If you cant have "everything", which is essential??
My suggestion ... gender, height, color of clothes (especially upper), and ONE unique feature that gives a good confirmation e.g. "male, 6 foot tall, blue coat, carrying a gray backpack on his right shoulder"
thoughts??
KL
After a description of "5 young males in trackies and hoodies, one with an orange hoody" from a retail security person the call came back from the police "Does the one with the orange hoody have a big nose and a face a rat would look happy in?"
A perfect example of how to give a description for people to look out for immediately. Sod the PC stuff, give a description that will stick in the mind wherever possible. ie. if they're skinny as a rake then say that rather than "slim build", if they're so fat they wobble then say that rather than "large build".
The A-H was originally for intelligence files so had to have all details of a known individual. "Clothing" was a list of things they commonly wore such as clothing style or jackets worn, not just the things they'd just been seen in. If you want a list for people you have just seen in situations like retail crime and doorwork its going to be more like Race, Gender, Age, Hair, Clothing, if they're average height and build you don't generally give it. This differs from SV type work because in retail and doorwork people aren't just focussed on the one person and associates, they're all dealing with security at their own place and numerous interactions with people so descriptions need to be kept brief and to the point.
As for people changing their appearance, trousers and shoes are a little harder to change than top clothing, but its natural to give top clothing first. Also note piercings and tattoos on hands or neck, harder to see but not going to change in a hurry. Trainers often have a lot of detail such as brightly coloured trim so don't just say white Nike trainers, its those details that will make them stand out. When I worked in retail the SG were poor at descriptions the female shop assistants were brilliant as they were into the clothing and knew all the brands and noticed the small details.
One pet hate of mine is "red hair" when they mean ginger or auburn. Only say "red" when you mean dyed red.