‘He was just your typical average guy’: examining how person descriptions are elicited by frontline police officers

Gary Dalton; Becky Milne; Lorraine Hope; Zarah Vernham; Jordan Harry Nunan

doi:10.1002/acp.3778

‘He was just your typical average guy’: examining how person descriptions are elicited by frontline police officers

Gary Dalton, Becky Milne, Lorraine Hope, Zarah Vernham, Jordan Harry Nunan

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Abstract

Person descriptions often lack the level of detail necessary to assist in the apprehension of a perpetrator. To date, it is not clear how person descriptions are obtained by frontline police officers. Worldwide, many police forces now use body worn video (BWV), which provides a unique opportunity to examine how frontline police officers gather person descriptions from witnesses. We examined how person descriptions (N = 207) were elicited by frontline police officers, with a particular focus on the types of questions used. BWV of 81 interactions involving 45 frontline police officers and 141 witnesses were analysed. Person descriptions were obtained using inappropriate questions 50.54% of the time, with leading questions being the most commonly used (44.84%). Appropriate questions (i.e. open questions) led to more information being provided (cf. inappropriate questions), including more fine- and coarse- grain details. Implications for the training of frontline police officers are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	517-525
Number of pages	9
Journal	Applied Cognitive Psychology
Volume	35
Issue number	2
Early online date	1 Jan 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3778
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2021

Keywords

body worn video
eyewitness memory
investigative interviewing
person descriptions
police

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10.1002/acp.3778

He was just your typical average guy POST PRINT
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Dalton, G, Milne, R, Hope, L, Vernham, Z, Nunan, J. ‘He was just your typical average guy’ Examining how person descriptions are elicited by frontline police officers. Appl Cognit Psychol. 2021; 35: 517– 525, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3778. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
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Cite this

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abstract = "Person descriptions often lack the level of detail necessary to assist in the apprehension of a perpetrator. To date, it is not clear how person descriptions are obtained by frontline police officers. Worldwide, many police forces now use body worn video (BWV), which provides a unique opportunity to examine how frontline police officers gather person descriptions from witnesses. We examined how person descriptions (N = 207) were elicited by frontline police officers, with a particular focus on the types of questions used. BWV of 81 interactions involving 45 frontline police officers and 141 witnesses were analysed. Person descriptions were obtained using inappropriate questions 50.54\% of the time, with leading questions being the most commonly used (44.84\%). Appropriate questions (i.e. open questions) led to more information being provided (cf. inappropriate questions), including more fine- and coarse- grain details. Implications for the training of frontline police officers are discussed. ",

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‘He was just your typical average guy’: examining how person descriptions are elicited by frontline police officers

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Keywords

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