What’s Up With Line-Ups?

The training recommends photos be
shown to eyewitnesses one at a time.

Some of you may remember this was the title of one our Safety & Loss Control Workshops last spring. The session focused on the forensic science that has led to new standards for police in handling line-ups and show-ups. As many of you know, some witnesses immediately recognize the subject, and many do not. A great deal has been learned about eyewitness identifications reliability and unreliability. Much of the data came from studying the factors that lead to wrongful incarcerations of innocent people. And the research has shown that in 75% of the wrongful incarcerations, the factor that led to the conviction was a mistake of an eyewitness identification.

Very few crime victims or eyewitnesses wake up in the morning knowing they are going to witness a crime that day. And their recollection of what happened—or of the suspect’s description—can be influenced by a variety of factors. Many of these crimes happen at night, they happen fast, and a witness’s own implicated bias may affect what they remember. 

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has a great online training program on this topic, and it is perfect for roll calls training or training sessions. The training is based on the IACP model policy and recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences. The training modules are about five minutes long and begin with a compelling story of a wrongful incarceration and its consequences. The training walks officers through the process for their initial response, show-ups, photo arrays, and live line-ups.

This process is the standard for most jurisdictions, and it is important for patrol officers as well as investigators. You can access the training online here.

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Stay safe,
Rob