Paradigm shift in criminal police lineups: Eyewitness identification as multicriteria decision making

This study is rooted in the recognition that multi-criteria decision analysis can contribute to the improvement of policies and procedures in police work and in the criminal justice system as a whole. More specifically, this research proposes a novel way to address police lineups for eyewitness identification purposes. Traditional methods present suspects sequentially (SEQ method) one by one using a Yes-No memory recognition approach rooted in psychology. The proposed method is a paradigm shift because it treats eyewitness identification as a prioritization rather than a memory recognition task and presents suspects, not sequentially, but in pairs (PAIR approach). The PAIR approach uses a pairwise comparison and prioritization approach, rooted in multi-criteria decision making, to identify the target culprit. This research shows that, in comparison to the Yes-No memory recognition method, the PAIR approach results in significantly fewer false identifications while keeping comparable or better correct identifications. These findings have the potential to greatly improve eyewitness testimony. This is very important because false identifications are the leading cause of wrongful conviction of innocent people. Therefore, this research has the potential to dramatically improve current police and judicial practices leading to a more just world.