Law Enforcement Perceptions of SB77: Best Practices on Lineups and Interrogations

• In Event: Poster Session I

Abstract

Ohio SB 77 is one of the nation’s most comprehensive criminal justice reform packages. Its goal is to prevent wrongful convictions of alleged offenders through improved evidence collection procedures by incorporating “best practices” into the conducting of witness identifications and custodial interrogations by law enforcement agencies. The present study focuses on documenting how police lineups are conducted per the law's new requirements and determining if departments are recording suspect/witness interrogations in serious crime cases.

A sample of Ohio police agencies was systematically surveyed about their witness identification and lineup procedures, and obstacles to compliance with the requirements of SB 77.

A substantial majority (67.9%) of all respondents indicated that their agency had a written eyewitness identification policy. Over 80 % of all agencies with policies, irrespective of size or agency type responded that their agency policy meets the requirements of SB77 concerning witness identification procedures. Eighty percent of the agencies without formal written policies indicated that they follow informal practices. Many of these agencies reported following guidelines on the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway website maintained by the Ohio Attorney General. A content analysis was also conducted on agency policies for those agencies who shared their policy with the research team.

Authors

• Brian Pack, University of Cincinnati

• James Frank, University of Cincinnati

• Mark Godsey, University of Cincinnati College of Law, Ohio Innocence Project