SunGard Public Sector’s Remote Lineup, a module of SunGard’s OSSI Public Safety Suite, was featured on the March 8, 2009 episode of CBS’ 60 Minutes. The story dealt with the wrongful conviction of a suspect identified via lineup and later exonerated by DNA evidence. It also covered advances in how lineups are administered to help mitigate incorrect identifications. Remote Lineup allows mug shot lineups to be created and then exported to a laptop for remote presentation, eliminating the need for traditional printed lineups. Designed to meet widely adopted, new lineup administration recommendations and standards, Remote Lineup helps improve the eyewitness identification process.
In 2007, SunGard Public Sector’s Remote Lineup was chosen as the primary software tool for a study on the fairness of criminal lineups as conducted by public safety agencies. For the study, two law enforcement agencies deployed SunGard Public Sector’s Remote Lineup software to conduct their photo lineups. Data collected from the agencies is being used by academic organizations and advocacy groups, which are considered leading experts in the study of eyewitness identification. The study seeks to determine which lineup methodology, simultaneous or sequential, provides the most reliable results. Additional SunGard customers have deployed the solution outside of the field study.
“SunGard Public Sector and its OSSI Public Safety Suite have been invaluable to our efforts to promote well-controlled photographic lineup procedures with eyewitnesses,” said Gary L. Wells, a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University and Director of Social Science Research for the American Judicature Society (AJS). The AJS is one of the organizations coordinating the study on photographic lineups; Mr. Wells is a foremost authority on the subject and was interviewed by reporter Leslie Stahl for the 60 Minutes piece. “This technology not only allows us to conduct controlled social science experiments on eyewitness reliability in the field, but it also serves as a practical way for police departments to conduct photographic lineups meeting the highest standards of professionalism. This is especially important today as we learn more and more about the necessity of standardized instructions, clear and consistent records of eyewitnesses’ identification decisions, and the need for photo-lineup procedures that guard against unintentional suggestion by the lineup administrator,” said professor Wells.
“Improving the eyewitness lineup process is a critical initiative for public safety agencies across the country,” said Tom Huber, president of SunGard Public Sector’s local government business unit. “We are proud that our software is being used to help study this important topic. Hopefully, new methods of conducting suspect lineups can be formalized, and we can look forward to a day when wrongful convictions are a thing of the past.”
View the story at the 60 Minutes Web site.
SunGard March 2009 press release.
