Book Examines Research on Eyewitness Identification to Improve Criminal Justice Practice

Eyewitness evidence plays a critical role in at least 77,000 criminal cases each year in the United States, but it has become commonplace to call that evidence inaccurate. In a new book by a University of Arkansas psychologist and his colleagues, the issue of accuracy is presented as more complicated and mutable.

In The Psychology of Eyewitness Identification, James M. Lampinen of the University of Arkansas and colleagues Jeffrey S. Neuschatz and Andrew D. Cling write that the truth about eyewitness testimony “is more complex and nuanced than the simple conclusion that eyewitness reports are inaccurate.” Rather, they say, key to addressing the problem “is to use psychological theory and research to develop practices and approaches that can be of service to the criminal justice system.”

The book offers an examination of research on the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness identification as well as a discussion of the implications of the research for social and legal policy.

Over the past three decades, researchers in psychology have identified a set of variables that can be used to assess the likely accuracy of the witness and inform police practice. That is, there are things that can be done to make the criminal justice system work better, to prevent an innocent person from wasting his or her life in jail while the actual culprit runs free.

“I would like the book to have an impact within research psychology but also with attorneys and law enforcement. It wouldn’t be a bad book for the media to read, too,” Lampinen said.

Hundreds of convictions in the United States have been overturned thanks to the use of DNA evidence. Both individually and socially, the cost of those convictions has been great: in the average case, a wrongly convicted person spent 13 years in prison, and in 70 percent of the cases, the exonerated prisoner was a member of a racial or ethnic minority group.

Moreover, the researchers write, “A mistaken eyewitness identification was a contributing cause in more than 75 percent of these wrongful convictions. Of the cases involving mistaken eyewitness identifications, more than one third of cases involved two or more witnesses making the same mistaken identification.”

According to Lampinen, both jurors and case law place a good deal of emphasis on how much confidence an eyewitness has in the identification. Time after time, research has shown at best moderate correlation between an eyewitness’s confidence and the accuracy of the identification.

For example, participants in an experiment watched a video clip of a crime from a security camera and then were asked to pick out the perpetrator from a line-up that did not include the culprit. Some participants were then told they’d picked the right person. Not only were those participants more confident in their identification, they also reported they’d paid more attention to the perpetrator and had a better view than did other participants whose identification had not been affirmed. Thus, the researchers note, confidence is complicated and can be influenced by cognitive, personality and social factors that are independent of identification accuracy.

“There is no magic bullet that will fix the problem of faulty eyewitness identification,” the researchers write. They suggest two alternatives that taken together can lead to systemic change. First, organizations like the Innocence Project should continue to clear individuals who have been wrongly convicted and raise public awareness. Second, they write, “social scientists must continue to conduct psycho-legal research with special emphasis on designing experiments that have more external validity” and continue to influence public policy and law.

Featured

  • Video Surveillance Trends to Watch

    With more organizations adding newer capabilities to their surveillance systems, it’s always important to remember the “basics” of system configuration and deployment, as well as the topline benefits of continually emerging technologies like AI and the cloud. Read Now

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

New Products

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”