Suspect identification: traditional mugshot album versus computerized feature system

In suspect identification, witnesses examine photos of known offenders in mugshot albums. Identification success deteriorates rapidly, however, as the number examined increases. Feature approaches, where mugshots are displayed in order of similarity to witness descriptions of suspects, increase identification success by reducing the number examined. In this study, subject witnesses searched for target suspects in a database of 1000 mugshots. Feature system users correctly identified more target suspects (90 %) than did album users (60 %) and misidentified fewer innocent suspects (0% versus 38%). For album users, identification success declined as the number of photos examined by witnesses increased. For feature users, the photo of target suspects was, on average, the 16th of 1000 photos examined.