Policy Text
TOM DaRé , CHIEF OF POLICE
Professional Standards Division NUMBER: 2020 -01
ISSUED: January 15 , 2019
Photo Lineup Procedures
Starting January 1, 2020, PC 859.7 states that all agencies and prosecutorial entities are required
to adopt regulations for conducting photo lineups and live lineups with eyewi tness. This is to ensure
that reliable and accurate information be obtained of a suspect when administering both photo
lineups and live line ups.
DEFINITIONS
Photographic Line -up: An identification procedure, in which an array of photographs, including a
photograph of the suspect of an offense and additional photographs or fillers of other persons not
suspected of the offense, is displayed to an eyewitness in h ard copy form for the purpose of
determining whether the eyewitness identifies the suspect as the perpetrator.
Filler: Either a person or a photograph of a person who is not suspected of an offense and is
included in an identification procedure.
Blind Administration: The administrator of an eyewitness identification procedure does not know
the identity of the suspect.
Blinded Administration: The administrator of an eyewitness identification procedure may know
who the suspect is, but does not know whe re the suspect, or his or her photo, as applicable, has
been placed or positioned in the identification procedure.
Identification Procedure: A photographic line -up or physical line -up.
Investigator: The person conducting the identification procedure.
PROCEDURES
The investigator conducting the photographic line -up shall use the “Blind Administration” or
“Blinded Administration” during the identification procedure.
TRAINING BULLETIN
“BLIND ADMINISTRATION”
The “Blind Administration” approach may be accomplished by completing a regular “SIX PACK
PHOTOGRAPHIC LINEUP” and by having another officer or investigator, who does not know the
identity of the suspect, administer the photographic line -up to the eyewitne ss.
“BLINDED ADMINISTRATION”
The “Blinded Administration” approach may be accomplished by the case investigator using the
folder shuffle method. This refers to a system for conducting a photographic line -up by placing
photographs in bi-fold file folders, randomly numbering the folders, shuffling the folders, and then
presenting the folders sequentially so that the administrator cannot see or track which photograph
is being presented to the eyewitness until after the procedure is completed. This approach a llows
the administrator to know who the suspect is, but does not know what folder the suspect’s
photographic has been placed.
The photographs shall be from various computer systems available to the investigator and can
include jail booking photographs or photographs from official state identification cards.
Should the investigating officer of a particular case be the only law enforcement personnel
available to conduct a photo lineup, the following instructions shall be followed:
1. Use one suspect photogra ph (suspect) that resembles the description (similar race and
physical characteristics) of the perpetrator provided by the witness, five filler photographs
that match the description but do not cause the suspect photograph to unduly stand out,
and ten fold ers. Four of the ten folders with not contain any photos and will serve as
“dummy folders.”
2. Affix one filler photo to Folder #1 and number the Folder. Only one photograph shall be in
a Folder. The photographs inside the Folders shall not be numbered, only the Folder itself.
3. The individual administering the lineup should place the suspect photogr aph and the other
four filler photographs into Folders #2 -6 and shuffle the photographs so that he is unaware
of which folder the suspect is in, and then number the remaining folders, including Folders
#7-10, which will remain empty. The empty folders are used so the witness will not know
when they have seen the last photo.
4. The administrator should provide instructions to the witness. The witness should be
informed that the perpetrator may or may not be contained in the photos he is about to see
and that the administrator does not know which folder contains the suspect.
5. Without looking at the photo in the folder, the administrator is to hand each folder to the
witness individually. Each time the witness has viewed a folder, the witness should indicate
whether or not this is the person the witness saw and the degree of confidence in this
identification, and return the photo to the administrator. The order of the photos should be
preserved, in a facedown position, in order to document in Step 6.
6. The admini strator should then document and record the results of the procedure. This
should include:
a. The date, time and location of the lineup procedure
b. The name of the administrator
c. The names of all the individuals present during the lineup
d. The number of photos s hown
e. Copies of the photographs themselves
f. The order in which the folders were presented
g. The sources of all the photos that were used
h. A statement of confidence in the witness’s own words as to the certainty of his
identification, taken immediately upon reac tion to the viewing
i. Any additional information the administrator deems pertinent to the procedure.
SIMMONS ADMONISHMENT
The courts have ruled it is a violation of due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments for police to suggest in any way, that a suspect to be observed at a lineup or
show-up committed the crime.
To avoid being suggestive, officers shall admonis h the witness(s) and or victim(s) prior to
viewing the suspect using the Simmons Warning. The Garden Grove Police Department Photo
Lineup Admonishment form should