Eyewitness Identification Field Studies

Since the mid-1970's, experimental psychologists have studied the psychological processes involved in eyewitness memory and factors affecting the reliability of eyewitness identification. Recommended procedures reforms have been identified to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identification, including:

• Double-blind administration: The person administering the lineup does not know which individual is the suspect;
   

• Cautionary instructions:  Prior to viewing the lineup, the witness is instructed that  the perpetrator may or may not be in the lineup, that the witness need not make an identification, and that the administrator does not know which individual is the suspect;
   

• Lineup composition and filler selection:  Persons, other than the suspect, participating in the lineup fit the general description of the perpetrator and the suspect does not unduly stand out from the non-suspect fillers;
   

• Confidence statement:  Immediately after an identification is made, the witness is asked to describe his/her certainty in making the identification;
   

• Detailed documentation:  The entire lineup procedure is carefully documented from beginning to end.
   

• Sequential presentation of the lineup:  The witness views individuals in the lineup one at a time and decides whether that individual is the perpetrator prior to viewing the remaining members of the lineup. 

In 2005-2006, a field study conducted in Illinois tested double-blind sequential procedures versus traditional simultaneous procedures.  While its methodology has been widely criticized and the validity of its results questioned, the Illinois study raised questions concerning the effectiveness of sequential procedures.  

In September 2006 the American Judicature Society Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy convened a meeting in Greensboro, NC, bringing together nationally prominent eyewitness experts to discuss and outline proper designs and protocols for conducting additional field experiments on this issue.  The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of simultaneous versus sequential line-ups in identifying perpetrators using computer-based lineup procedures in actual police investigations. 

The research and lineup procedures being developed are generally referred to as the "Greensboro Protocols". The proposed study will be conducted in 4 sites around the country, beginning in January 2008 in Charlotte, NC. 

The proposed project is a joint endeavor involving the AJS Institute, Center for Modern Forensic Practice at John Jay College (City University of New York), The Police Foundation, Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, and The Innocence Project.