Eyewitness News: The AP Looks at How the DPD’s Changed the Way it IDs Suspects

We began Thursday morning with the news that Brian Dennehy would be writing and directing the story of Joyce Ann Brown, a then-Koslow’s Furs employee who, in 1980, was convicted of robbery and murder based almost solely on the testimony of a single eyewitness — the wife of the slain man. Twenty-four houirs, this related follow-up courtesy the Associated Press, which takes note of how, back in April, Dallas police changed the procedure it uses to ID suspects. Used to be, DPD would show witnesses six photos at once; now, it’s one at a time, and not even the officer doing the displaying knows who the suspect is, as not to tip the scales even accidentally.

Some in the DPD were initially worried about making the change; says Assistant Chief Ron Waldrop, “they thought we were creating obstacles to getting bad guys off the street.” But this spoiler alert: “After about 1,200 lineups, identification rates have not changed — though it is too early tell if there’s been a decline in mistaken ID rates.”