PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The method has few safeguards to protect against a false identification and can lead police to focus on the wrong person from the outset of an investigation. Many of the nation’s other large police departments — including Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, Dallas and Miami-Dade — said they do not rely on the technique, a New York Times survey shows. Detective bureaus in many other jurisdictions do not show booking photos to witnesses until they have a suspect in mind. Investigators then conduct a photo lineup, placing the suspect’s among photos of at least five “fillers” — people who fit the description but are known to be innocent. That approach offers some shield against a false identification: If the witness chooses a filler, police understand the witness is wrong and know not to arrest that person. In a mug shot search, everyone is a potential suspect, and the actual culprit might not be among the group. But whoever the witness selects becomes the focus of the investigation. I think it taints the investigation,” said Deputy Chief Thomas Castro, who oversees detectives for the Dallas Police Department."
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STORY: "Jailing the Wrong Man: Mug Shot Searches Persist in New York, Despite Serious Risks," by reporter Joseph Goldstein, published by The New York Times on January 5, 2019.
GIST: Inside
a police station house in Queens about a year ago, St. Clair Steward
insisted he had not been involved in a recent shooting. Mr. Steward told
the police he had been resting at home.
Investigators
did not believe him. The motive behind the shooting was a mystery, but
the victim had combed through pictures of people with past arrests and
identified Mr. Steward, a father of eight, as the assailant. To
the detectives involved, the shooting in January 2018 was just the
latest in a long line of crimes solved by asking a victim to search
through mug shots, an investigative technique used in New York City for
more than 150 years. Detectives enter a description of the perpetrator
into a database, which then spits out dozens or even hundreds of
matching photos. The witness scrolls through, in hopes of recognizing
the culprit. But these open-ended
photo searches also increase the likelihood of ensnaring an innocent
person, according to studies and experts in eyewitness identification.
The method has few safeguards to protect against a false identification
and can lead police to focus on the wrong person from the outset of an
investigation. Many
of the nation’s other large police departments — including Chicago, Los
Angeles, Houston, Washington, Dallas and Miami-Dade — said they do not
rely on the technique, a New York Times survey shows. Detective
bureaus in many other jurisdictions do not show booking photos to
witnesses until they have a suspect in mind. Investigators then conduct a
photo lineup, placing the suspect’s among photos of at least five
“fillers” — people who fit the description but are known to be innocent. That
approach offers some shield against a false identification: If the
witness chooses a filler, police understand the witness is wrong and
know not to arrest that person. In a
mug shot search, everyone is a potential suspect, and the actual culprit
might not be among the group. But whoever the witness selects becomes
the focus of the investigation. I
think it taints the investigation,” said Deputy Chief Thomas Castro, who
oversees detectives for the Dallas Police Department."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/nyregion/nypd-mug-shots-false-identification.html?emc=edit_na_20190105&nl=breaking-news&nlid=57629086ing-news&ref=headline
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/
