How can we catch more bad guys and fewer innocent people? Spoiler: not through an Internet community of cat lovers. <\/p>
If you\u2019re into true crime, you\u2019ll know how often the wrong person is selected in a police line-up. Well, a group of psychologists\u00a0argue<\/a>\u00a0it\u2019s because current police line-up procedures don\u2019t help witnesses choose from suspects effectively \u2013 but new AI technology could better jog their memories.<\/p> Unlike in Hollywood movies, current police line-ups usually don\u2019t have a victim choose from a group of suspects paraded around a physical room. Instead, a victim only views static photos of them, which offers a limited view of possible culprits.<\/p> A new interactive system developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham wants to change this. Using 3D models, a perpetrator can be viewed from multiple angles \u2013 including the one the victim first saw them at.<\/p> The results? The researchers found that interactive viewing improves the accuracy of witness selection by 42 per cent. Even compared to video line-ups \u2013 when the suspects are filmed turning \u2013 the technology improved selection accuracy by 20 per cent.<\/p> \u201cWe need to do better to increase the odds that guilty people are identified while decreasing the odds that innocent people are selected from line-ups,\u201d Prof Heather Flowe<\/a>, who has been working on this project for over nine years, tells BBC Science Focus<\/em>.<\/p> Existing line-up methods that police forces in the UK and USA use are ineffective and cause errors, says Flowe. In America, the suspects\u2019 photos do not even have to be consistent \u2013 ranging from driver\u2019s license photos to people in prison uniforms. \u201cSo you have this hodge-podge line-up,\u201d Flowe says. \u201cIt\u2019s just not fair.\u201d<\/p> These line-ups are missing tricks to help jog memories, she says \u2013 tricks which Flowe and her team are investigating. While her current technology allows witnesses to interact with the suspects\u2019 images, the team are testing ways to include dynamic facial movements, emotional expression, changes in lighting, and accessories such as masks using AI.<\/p> The ethos behind Flowe\u2019s research is that the more of these you can provide a witness, the more accurate their choice will be.<\/p> But for now, Flowe is focusing on getting the interactive line-up technology rolled out. Her team is in discussion with the US and UK police forces before it starts being tested in the field.<\/p> \u201cIt’s a good opportunity for police to get on board and start using better tech, which really hasn’t changed in 100 years \u2013 we’re still using just photographs when we could do so much better,\u201d Flowe says.<\/p>