EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE | NIJ | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26 - AFTER 3:30 P.M., 1999 | 202/307-0703 |
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT RELEASES GUIDE ON EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE
Guide and Other Work Called for by Attorney General Reno
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Justice Department's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) today released "Eyewitness Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement," which provides information to law enforcement officials responsible for the collection and preservation of eyewitness evidence. Based on Attorney General Reno's personal interest in this subject, NIJ Director Jeremy Travis convened a working group of leading practitioners and experts to develop the guide.
"Because of the role that eyewitnesses play in supplying critical evidence about crimes, I asked NIJ to explore this issue," said Attorney General Janet Reno. "The recommendations in this guide will be an invaluable resource for jurisdictions across the country, and can be incorporated as needed to fit unique local circumstances."
The guide is not intended to benchmark legal criteria for the admissibility of evidence. Rather, it sets out rigorous criteria for handling eyewitness evidence that are as demanding as those governing the handling of physical trace evidence.
"When the Attorney General asked us to explore this issue, we brought together not only law enforcement officials, but prosecutors, defense attorneys, and researchers," said NIJ Director Jeremy Travis. "This product represents a combination of the best current thinking on police practices and psychological research."
In May 1998, NIJ established the Technical Working Group for Eyewitness Evidence to identify, define, and assemble a set of investigative tasks that could be performed in every investigation involving eyewitness evidence. The 34-member working group continues to work to identify "best practices" and relay this information to criminal justice professionals who can practically apply this knowledge. A list of the working group members is attached.
The Working Group is meeting Tuesday, October 26 in Washington, D.C. to discuss additional methods of disseminating information on its findings. Today, the group will begin development of a syllabus to support the new guide and discuss the development of a CD-ROM that can be distributed to interested criminal justice professionals with additional information on eyewitness evidence issues.
For a copy of the guide, contact the National Criminal Justice Reference Service at 1-800/851-3420. Additional information about NIJ and the Office of Justice Programs is available at: https://ojp.gov/nij.
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For additional information, contact Doug Johnson at 202/616-3559
WORKING GROUP MEMBERS
Commander Ella M. Bully (Ret.)
Sgt. Paul Carroll (Ret.)
Carole E. Chaski, Ph.D.
James Doyle
Ronald P. Fisher, Ph.D.
Mark R. Larson
Capt. Donald Mauro
Melissa Mourges
Gary L. Wells, Ph.D.
Michael Barrasse
Det. Sgt. Chet Bush
Solomon M. Fulero, Ph.D., J.D.
David C. Niblack
Det. Lt. Kenneth A. Patenaude
Patricia Ramirez
Senior Investigator Eugene Rifenburg
Det. Edward Rusticus
Capt. Michael B. Wall
Deputy Daniel Alarcon II
First Sgt. Roger Broadbent
Cpl. J.R. Burton
Caterina DiTraglia
Officer Patricia Marshall
Det. Ray Staley
Lt. Tami Thomas
Det. Sgt. J. Glenn Diviney (Ret.)
Investigations Chief Arlyn Greydanus
Investigator Kathy Griffin
Roy S. Malpass, Ph.D.
Jeralyn Merritt
James Fox
William Hodgman
Rod C.L. Lindsay, Ph.D.
John Turtle, Ph.D.
Detroit Police Department
Detroit, Michigan
Chicago Police Department
Chicago, Illinois
Institute of Linguistic Evidence
Georgetown, Delaware
Attorney at Law
Boston, Massachusetts
Florida International University
North Miami, Florida
King County Prosecutor's Office
Seattle, Washington
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office
Los Angeles, California
New York County DA's Office
New York, New York
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
Lackawanna County District Attorney
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Kent County Sheriff's Office
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Sinclair College
Dayton, Ohio
Attorney at Law
Washington, D.C.
Northampton Police Department
Northampton, Massachusetts
Dodge County DA's Office
Juneau, Wisconsin
New York State Police (Ret.)
Oneida Indian Nation Police
Munnsville, New York
Kent County Sheriff's Office
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Northampton Police Department
Northampton, Massachusetts
Hillsborough Co. Sheriff's Office
Tampa, Florida
Virginia State Police
Fairfax Station, Virginia
Hillsborough Co. Sheriff's Office
Tampa, Florida
State of Missouri
Public Defender System
St. Louis, Missouri
Chicago Police Department
Chicago, Illinois
Kansas City Police Department
Kansas City, Missouri
Atlantic Beach Police Department
Atlantic Beach, North Carolina
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office
Fort Worth, Texas
Montana Department of Justice
Division of Criminal Investigations
Helena, Montana
Loveland Police Department
Loveland, Colorado
University of Texas El Paso
El Paso, Texas
Attorney at Law
Denver, Colorado
San Mateo County DA
Redwood City, California
Los Angeles County DA's Office
Los Angeles, California
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario
Ryerson Polytechnic University
Toronto, Ontario