Chicago can keep data on police lineup study under wraps

Here is first hand knowledge of how this works.
About ten years ago while preforming my job, I notice two guys breaking into a house. It was doing a holiday season. Its a lot of detail so I will spare you all the descriptions.
About a month later I was called to go the courthouse and identify the robbers. One id at the scene, the other got away, but they did catch him later when the other guy squealed.
When I showed up at the courthouse, I was let upstairs to their lineup. Mind you it had been a month later when I got called to come to id the suspect. I couldremember curtains facts, like his height, what he wore and what he had on his head,I just had to see the person to be sure, once you see them your memory comes back. That being said, even though I could pick the guy out, here are some of the sehemes the cops used.
1 they bring in about 6 guys
2 five of them are laughing
3 the guilty one is always center with the brightest light on him
4 police suggest to you in certain ways to look closely at a suspect, even when you are sure.
5 when you pick out the one they suspect, expect a pat on the back.
That was my experience.

What-U-Say wrote:

even though I could pick the guy out, here are some of the schemes the cops used.
1 they bring in about 5 guys
2 four of them are laughing
3 the guilty one is always center with the brightest light on him
4 police suggest to you in certain ways to look closely at the suspect in the middle, even when you are sure.
5 when you have picked out the one they suspect, expect a pat on the back.
That was my experience.

didnt do a proof before I posted

"4 police suggest to you in certain ways to look closely at the suspect in the middle, even when you are sure.
5 when you have picked out the one they suspect, expect a pat on the back.
That was my experience. "

So? The right guy went to jail. Sounds good to me.

I suppose they'll also want to avoid releasing their data showing that torture-induced confessions are more reliable than the legal ones.

It's hard to look at a Chicago cop without puking these days.

The woman who was chief counsel to the then-superintendent ran the study? So much for unbiased research!

Marie wrote:

The woman who was chief counsel to the then-superintendent ran the study? So much for unbiased research!

Great point. That fact alone is indicative of the implementation of this study overall.

Read this article if you want to know what office she works in now.
http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/12960...

There are much bigger fish to fry.
The most recent attempt to legislate eyewitness line-up reform in Illinois was opposed and stopped by Devine, the State's Attorneys Organization and the lobbyist for Lisa Madigan (a member of the Capital Punishment Study Reform Committee told me about Lisa Madigan's involvement).

If Devine and Madigan had not stood in the way, we would have a law on the books in Illinois requiring a "blind adminstrator," or an impartial person conducting police line-ups.

I'd like to know why Madigan blocked this reform but when I ask I get responses like "arrogant politician."

link for description of eyewitness flaws & reforms ttp://www.innocenceproject.org /Content/165.php

the truth wrote:

"4 police suggest to you in certain ways to look closely at the suspect in the middle, even when you are sure.
5 when you have picked out the one they suspect, expect a pat on the back.
That was my experience. "
So? The right guy went to jail. Sounds good to me.

That's exactly the problem with wrongful convictions, which have revealed by the Innocence Project to occur most commonly for this exact reason: it's always the police suspect who gets picked. The problem occurs when the police suspect isn't the actual perpetrator, but the lineup is constructed and conducted in a manner that strongly suggests to the witness to select the suspect. When the suspect didn't actually commit the crime, the wrong person goes to prison, as we've seen over and over and over again, and disproportionately so in the state of Illinois, which is neck-and-neck with Texas for the most wrongful convictions due to flawed police lineup procedures in the country.

Does that still sound good to you?

Ben
http://eyeid.wordpress.org

The Metropolitan Police in London are well ahead of Chicago standards. Identifications are done at special police stations. The investigating officers take no part. The suspect chooses from a video bank of images who will appear in the line up. The suspect's lawyer nominates which position the suspect will appear in moments before the witness views the line up. There can be no shenanigans.