Identity parades set to be replaced by video

THE DAYS of the Garda identity parade may be coming to an end with a proposal by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to replace it with a system of video images which can be accessed by computer.

The traditional system of assembling individuals of broadly similar appearance can be time-consuming and difficult. A change to the computerised method is contained in the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which will be considered by the Dáil after the summer recess.

The plan was approved at a recent Cabinet meeting which backed the Minister’s proposal to provide a statutory basis for video identification.

This is a system whereby an image of a suspect is recorded and then shown to a witness along with other similar images of persons who resemble the suspect, drawn from a large database of such images.

The most convenient and suitable data base is available in the United Kingdom, so provision is being made for any image of a suspect to be transmitted outside the State so that an appropriate selection of similar images can be transmitted back to the Garda.

The Minister told The Irish Times: "This process is in operation in the UK and has proved extremely useful.

“It has substantially cut the time it takes to organise an identity parade, which is beneficial for witnesses whose memory is better soon after an incident and who will not have the trauma of coming face-to-face with a suspect.

“This will also avoid the difficulty the Garda Síochána often experience in assembling a parade of similar-looking persons.” Mr Ahern said the amending legislation being introduced in the autumn as part of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill would remove a legal block on the use of video images for identity parades.

“This is really an instance of new technology catching up with the crucial identifying of suspects by using identity parades. but of course it can now be done by using a screen or a laptop,” Mr Ahern said.