Phoenix City Councilmember Kevin Robinson said he hopes to make the recommendations from the Arizona Justice Project for police witness lineups the new standard not just for the Phoenix Police Department but for law enforcement agencies across the state.
“If we can prevent one person who did not commit the crime from being convicted and incarcerated, I think we’re doing our jobs. We’re doing it the right way,” Robinson said during a Phoenix Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting last week.
Decades of studies have shown eyewitness testimony is right only about half the time, according to reporting from The Associated Press in 2014. The Arizona Justice Project, formed in 1998 to address wrongful convictions in the state, collaborated with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to craft the 12 recommendations for suspect lineups with aims to avoid innocent people being charged with a crime.
