41N - Eyewitness identification Show Ups Photo Arrays 2019

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Policy & Procedure Page 1 of 18 Lexington Police Department Subject: Eyewitness Identification Policy Number: 41N Accreditation Standards: Reference: 42.2.11; 42.2.12 Effective Date: 7/1/12  New  Revised Revision Dates: 1/24/19 By Order of: Mark J. Corr, Chief of Police The Municipal Police Institute, Inc. (MPI) is a private, nonprofit charitable affiliate of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. MPI provides training and model policies and procedures for police agencies. This policy is an edited version of MPI Policy 1.12, “Eyewitness Identification” and guidelines provided by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office dated July 2004. In October 1999 the National Institute of Justice developed and approved of guidelines for eyewitness evidence procedures, these reform procedures are the foundation for this policy. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND GUIDELINES Police identification procedures are an important consideration for establishing the identity of a criminal offender. They are equally significant in clearing an innocent suspect. Many people who have been convicted of serious crimes, only to later be exonerated by scientific evidence, were originally convicted based in large part on mistaken identification by a witness. The identification of criminal offenders must be approached with extreme caution as the court may exclude evidence if it is improperly obtained. If improper identification procedures are used, a court not only may exclude the out-of-court identification, but can in certain circumstances exclude subsequent in-court identification. The court will carefully examine the identification procedure and the manner in which it was conducted to determine whether the police influenced the witness, intentionally or unintentionally. Even in those cases where eyewitness identification is admitted by the court, the jury may still not be persuaded if sufficient doubt can be raised as to its reliability. Officers must be careful to ensure that their identification procedures are not conducted in a suggestive manner and that they are not conducive to irreparable misidentification.