Major Offender File - The Technical Capability of Videotape Offers the Solution to a Problem That Has Been With Us Since Monsieur Daguerre

• NCJ Number: 79256
• Journal: Police Chief Volume: 48 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1981) Pages: 32-34,39,77
• Author(s): A F Fairbanks; J N Smith
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The development, characteristics, and uses of a video tape major offender file in the Tempe Police Department (Arizona) are discussed.

Abstract

After determining success in video taping drunk-driving suspects since 1972, a plan was formulated to video tape criminal suspects. The plan provided for taping at the time of arrest, filing in some particular sequence, and retrieval at a later time for information or identification. The basic purposes of the future program were the identification of major offenders for each beat officer; the classification of offender information by age, race, sex, etc.; and the provision of identification criteria to victims and witnesses of crimes. The major steps in the development of a workable plan involved funding, the development of hardware needs and specifications, operating criteria and techniques, training, security, and long-term operation. The plan was also determined to provide identification uses that would be constitutional according to case law. Specific steps for video tape production were developed to include a full view of the suspect (10 seconds), full face shot (10 seconds), a left profile (10 seconds), walks away from the camera (15 feet) and returns to original location, and suspect reading Miranda warning in normal speaking voice (camera maintains wide-angle shot). When the showing of a file tape or lineup tape directly or indirectly results in the identification or arrest of a suspect, a memorandum is prepared to be used in evaluating the program. While information tapes of recently arrested suspects shown to officers is an immediate benefit of the file, long-term benefits of the file are not yet readily apparent, largely because the construction of a legally acceptable lineup using this method requires a substantial file library. About 14 months after the program's implementation, however, the first practical use of the file lineup product was accomplished with favorable results. Eight footnotes are provided.