Ever have to do a police photo lineup, as a witness? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Shawnski · 07-26-2009, 01:58 AM

With all the recent threads about police and the corresponding posts denoucing them, I thought I would recount a recent incident I have first hand knowledge of... much to my dismay.

First of all, I cannot nor will not provide details of the incident. Don't even ask. The event happened last year, and I was only recently contacted to view a suspect list. This should alleviate any generalizations or guesswork.

Secondly, I cannot nor will not acknowledge whether I identified the alleged perpetrator or not.

What I will divulge is the required practice that I was subjected to.

What do you see in TV shows and the movies? A line up of a half dozen or so possibles... You see them live... You see them at their actual height.... you see them face forward or if requested turning.

What did I see? I got a single picture of 10 possibles. Face front only. Printed out on standard paper. There was no side profile or anything else. ONE clip.

The police went out of their way to ensure that the whole interview was as unbiased as possible, and that my viewing of the suspects was not in any way hindered by any influence.

THAT part of the process was surprisingly eye opening.

What I, as a witness, was pissed off about is that I only had one picture of the potential perps to make a judgment upon. No side view, no video, no height indications, no "live" lineup which would have allowed other requests to check voice, facial expression or anything.

I left there feeling that the police were doing everything possible to ensure absolute neutrality on the interview, however I as a witness was not given sufficient access to identifiable information (views of subject)... well again, I think that by my obligations I can't say any thing more.

Any other stories (of course without the details.)

Reggie Dunlop · 07-26-2009, 02:03 AM

So you're the stoolie who ratted out fotze?

Shawnski · 07-26-2009, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

So you're the stoolie who ratted out fotze?

Oddly enough, THIS one wasn't involving fotze. I do, however, accuse him of every other possible injustice in the world.

BlackArcher101 · 07-26-2009, 02:44 AM

Did they ever do the line up thing in reality? I always wondered how it worked.. did they pay the other guys to be there? Detain them? (good luck with that one)

I believe all police forces use the photo print out page now. At least they do on First 48 hours on A&E

I think the photo one actually works fairly well. If a single photo still results in some doubt, that doubt would be use to negate the effectiveness of the positive identification during a trial. I think it reduces the "I think that's the guy" and increases the 100% positive identifications.

Kybosh · 07-26-2009, 08:09 AM

I haven't done this myself but I know that the police go to great lengths to not influence the the witness in any way. Human memory is not even close to being perfect and is constantly trying to fill in holes in the memory. There have been many examples of wrongful convictions because a witness chose someone in a line up that was never involved with the crime. One of the things I believe the police are supposed to do now is tell you before hand that the accused might not even be shown. This is meant to prevent the human mind from finding something that isn't there.

Titan · 07-26-2009, 09:05 AM

60 minutes did a thing on visual memory. I found it really interesting. it talks about id'ing an alleged criminal.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...n4848039.shtml

I believe the scientist in the story made the point that in the scientific world visual evidence and/or memory is considered nearly useless but in the law it is the holy grail. We send people to jail on the strength of it. Neat stuff.

Titan · 07-26-2009, 09:08 AM

bah nm

DOK · 07-26-2009, 10:45 AM

I wonder how much TV has influenced daily life. I hear stories of American cases going poorly because the jurors expect too much out of the evidence. They expect that they can get all this information, finger prints, dna, everything, and when they show up with next to nothing, people are disappointed and end up acquitting. Psychologically, we expect that what they do on crime tv shows is what they do in real life.

Not saying this is what's happening here, but I can't help but wonder, because what you compared it to. Logically speaking, the costs involved and not to mention the logistics involved in gathering 10 guys for you to peek at would be really high if they had to do that for everyone. Yes, it may be simple, but honestly, if you think about it quite complicated, financially wearing, and timely. A stack of photos cuts to the chase. Of course a real line up may help, and maybe they do that in certain situations, but they could do it in all, or many for that matter. Logistically, gathering 10 potential criminals to line up, that'd be a spicy pain in the ass for everyone.

Displaced Flames fan · 07-26-2009, 10:58 AM

My son, as a 5 year old, identified a vehicle from a similar line up. I won't get into the details of the whole scenario, but I will say that the little boy with a brain put this scumbag in prison for 15 years because he was smart enough to remember everything he could about the situation and brave enough to tell a judge and jury while the guy was staring at him from 12 feet away.

The cops that handled the investigation were AWESOME.

jolinar of malkshor · 07-26-2009, 11:02 AM

When I was 16 I had to identify someone in a picture line up. Very hard. They all looked the same. It is really unbelievable how many people they can get that look like the suspect.

8sPOT · 07-26-2009, 11:17 AM

I had to do the same thing about 4 years ago. Showed me about 10 pictures, all guys that were clean shaven and you can only see from the neck up.

Really bizarre because I remember telling myself when the 'incident' happened that the dude was pretty short (5'6" or so) but there's no way to know how tall the person is in these pictures. Needless to say I chose whom I thought was the perp and have no idea what came of it.

valo403 · 07-26-2009, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

My son, as a 5 year old, identified a vehicle from a similar line up. I won't get into the details of the whole scenario, but I will say that the little boy with a brain put this scumbag in prison for 15 years because he was smart enough to remember everything he could about the situation and brave enough to tell a judge and jury while the guy was staring at him from 12 feet away.

The cops that handled the investigation were AWESOME.

I'm surprised they made him take the stand, the right to confrontation often gives way in situations like that. Impressive that he kept it together at such a young age under that stress.

Displaced Flames fan · 07-26-2009, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by valo403

I'm surprised they made him take the stand, the right to confrontation often gives way in situations like that. Impressive that he kept it together at such a young age under that stress.

It was impressive to be sure. As I look at him now, asleep on the couch at 12:20 PM on a Sunday, I wonder what the hell happened to him!

stang · 07-26-2009, 12:19 PM

They do it this way on the "Last 48" too

printed pictures that is.