Identifying the Culprit

Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification makes the case that better data collection and research on eyewitness identification, new law enforcement training protocols, standardized procedures for administering line-ups, and improvements in the handling of eyewitness identification in court can increase the chances that accurate identifications are made. This report explains the science that has emerged during the past 30 years on eyewitness identifications and identifies best practices in eyewitness procedures for the law enforcement community and in the presentation of eyewitness evidence in the courtroom. In order to continue the advancement of eyewitness identification research, the report recommends a focused research agenda.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Summary
1 Introduction
2 Eyewitness Identification Procedures
3 The Legal Framework for Assessment of Eyewitness Identification Evidence
4 Basic Research on Vision and Memory
5 Applied Eyewitness Identification Research
6 Findings and Recommendations
Appendixes
Appendix A: Biographical Information of Committee and Staff
Appendix B: Committee Meeting Agendas
Appendix C: Consideration of Uncertainty in Data on the Confidence-Accuracy Relationship and the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve