Oregon Considers Changes to Police Lineups

An

Oregon task force

, comprised of law enforcement officers and led by Oregon Police Chief John Teague, is considering major changes to eyewitness identification procedures. The task force joins a growing national movement to confront the problem of misidentification, which is so prevalent in DNA exoneration cases.

   

The

changes

under consideration include additional training for police officers, the implementation of a double-blind, sequential lineup (in which an officer unconnected to the case shows a witness photos one-at-a-time), and witness instructions in both English and Spanish.

Dan Reisberg, a psychology professor at Reed College in Oregon, says that these changes are being considered because there is no national standard for

eyewitness IDs

.