Mind the gap: Bridging evidence-based witness identification procedures to practice through police training
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557231159543 |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
Mind the gap: Bridging evidence-based
witness identification procedures to
practice through police training
William Weber Cecconello
Department of Psychology, Atitus Educação, Brazil
Ryan J. Fitzgerald
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Rebecca Milne
Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, UK
Lilian Milnitsky Stein
Professional Graduate Program in Law, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
Abstract
Research has led to evidence-based eyewitness identification procedures, but empirical research on how to train police
officers in such techniques is limited. We tested the effectiveness of the FAIR (Find a suspect, Avoiding bias, Instructing
the witness, Record the procedure) eyewitness identification training program with 88 Brazilian police officers. The
hypothesis that FAIR training would improve identification procedures was supported by pre- and post-training assessment
of performance on a lineup construction task. Trainingincreased the likelihood that police officers would construct lineups
with known-innocent fillers and provide recommended pre-lineup instructions to witnesses (e.g., stating that the witness is
not required to make an identification). Training also decreased non-recommended lineup practices, such as revealing the
identity of the main suspect after a witness response. Feedback from the participants supports the conclusion that FAIR
training improved knowledge of how to build lineups, instructwitnesses, and avoid undesirable and potentially biasing prac-
tices. Nevertheless, participants anticipated that incorporating the reform procedures into practice would provoke resist-
ance from superiors and colleagues, which highlights the need for FAIR training to be supported by infrastructure,
resources and policy that enable police officers to use evidence-based procedures in eyewitness identification.
Keywords
Eyewitness identification, training, police
Submitted 13 Dec 2022, accepted 13 Dec 2022
Eyewitness lineup identifications can provide important
evidence for establishing the identity of culprits.
Researchers have developed procedures to decrease the
risk of a mistaken identification (i.e., identification of an
innocent suspect; National Institute of Justice Technical
Working Group on Eyewitness Evidence, 1999; National
Research Council, 2014; Wells et al., 2020). However,
less attention has been directed toward training of the
police to apply such procedures in their identification
Corresponding author:
William Weber Cecconello, Department of Psychology, Atitus Educação,
Passo Fundo, Brazil.
Email: William.cecconello@gmail.com
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(2) 157–169
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/14613557231159543
journals.sagepub.com/home/psm
To continue reading
Request your trial