OBSERVATION

F ORENSIC I NVESTIGATORS MUST LEARN TO BE EXCELLENT OBSERVERS They must find, document, and interpret evidence.

P ERCEPTION IS FAULTY It is not always accurate It does not always reflect reality!

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

W HY IS PERCEPTION FAULTY ? Our brains can filter out and change information from our senses. In other words…

P RACTICE O BSERVING : How many passes occur between the players dressed in white?

DID YOU KNOW? According to The Innocence Project (2008) "Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in more than 75% of convictions overturned through DNAtesting." Still, the criminal justice system profoundly relies on eyewitness identification and testimony for investigating and prosecuting crimes (Wells & Olson, 2003).

E YEWITNESS T ESTIMONY Juries heavily influenced by eyewitness identifications. Lots of innocent people convicted b/c of faulty eyewitness accounts. Some Issues: types of questions asked by investigator type of crime Emotional arousal improves memory to a certain point (Do you remember where you were when Sandy Hook shooting happened?) time frame of questioning after event Cross racial identifications difficult

H OW TO BE A GOOD OBSERVER Observe systematically-start on one side & move across Turn off filters-make a conscious effort to pay attention to details Interpret information later Document, Documents, Document-written & photos

F ACIAL C OMPOSITES Investigators work with sketch artists and eyewitnesses to create facial composites, or sketches of a person’s face. Today many police departments are using facial reconstruction software to help them with this task. The composite may be used internally to assist officers in identifying the suspect or used externally through local media (radio, TV, and newspaper) to solicit leads from citizens. FACES – A software program that offers many options to help you recreate a person’s facial features.