EYEWITNESS MEMORY

Unlike most portrayals on television, physical and biological evidence may be absent from a crime scene. Thus, particularly at the early stages of a criminal investigation, the police may have to rely on eyewitness testimony. In this chapter, we will first address the importance of eyewitness testimony during a homicide (and other criminal) investigations. Then, we will address how reliable eyewitness memory is and what factors can affect its reliability. We will then address some of the techniques and interview strategies that trained police forces can use to enhance eyewitness memory and obtain accurate and detailed accounts from eyewitnesses, namely the Cognitive Interview and the PEACE model. Lastly, we will briefly address some of the new developments in this field and how these might shape future policy and best practice. In sum, this chapter focuses on the key role that eyewitness testimony can have in homicide investigations and the science-based methodologies that have been developed and used to collect informative and accurate accounts from eyewitnesses.