Facial Comparison from CCTV footage: The competence and confidence of the jury

Abstract

CCTV footage is commonly used in the court room to help visualise the crime in question and to help identify the offender. Unfortunately the majority of surveillance cameras produce such poor quality images that the task of identifying individuals can be extremely difficult. This study aimed at determining whether the task of identifying the offender in CCTV footage was one which a jury should be competent to do, or whether expert evidence would be beneficial in such cases. The ability of potential jury members, the general public, was tested by asking participants to play the role of a jury member by means of an online survey. Potential jury members viewed CCTV in which a simulated offence took place, and were subsequently asked to compare still images of a defendant to the offender to try to determine if they were competent and confident about making a judgement as to whether the defendant committed the crime. Factors such as age, gender and profession of the potential jury members were considered, as well as the type of crime committed, in order to establish if these play any role in the decision made by potential jury members. These factors did not appear to play a significant role; however confidence was also investigated and it became very evident that this was a factor that must be taken into consideration when determining the requirement for expert contribution in facial comparisons. Jury members may well be willing and competent to a basic level in carrying out a facial comparison but if they lack a certain level of confidence in their ability and decision making then this task is more suitable for an expert with experience and skills in this field.

Keywords: CCTV; Comparison; Expert; Facial; Identification; Jury.