Mental Exercise ("Be a Good Witness")

[B. Lahey]

Yesterday I was a witness to a crime, and it kind of shocked me how little I remembered about the two dirtbags when I gave my statement to the cops. I remembered the face of the one that I got a good look at, and some general identifying info like how tall they were, race, and a rough estimate of age, but when it came to their clothing I was at a loss (with the exception of a very odd hat one was wearing).

What dude pays any attention to what other dudes are wearing? I sure didn't until now...

Everyone always says "be a good witness", and I figured I would be... but it turns out I'm not any better than any other random person, and probably worse than quite a few.

Does anyone have any tips for noticing and remembering identifying characteristics while under stress?

I've heard people reference an exercise called KIMS, but have been unable to find instructions for the version specific to remembering people. I'm sure the version where you try to memorize various junk on a table is helpful in a general kind of way, but I would like to improve my ability to recall clothing and other info helpful to law enforcement.

All suggestions are welcome.

[Slopemeno]

I kinda work top down. White. Male. Adult. Brown hair. 40's. Blue t-shirt. 200 lbs. About 5'10". Something hanging from his belt on the right side like a cell phone pouch.

Use something nearby to to get an estimate on height. I CA's a prowler in my old neighborhood and while I was dead-certain he was the guy once he was in custody he sure looked smaller than I had estimated.

[BillCA]

There are various methods of trying to recall all that you see. A lot depends on your own emotions during the time and how threatened you may have felt or how fearful you were.

Top down is as good a method as any. though I find that my first impression is of the person, then their clothing. One also has to remember that your own perceptions about certain things (i.e. race) may tend to provide false or inaccurate information to police.

For example - viewing a suspect at night who's wearing a hat or hoodie and describing his dark-skinned features as "black" may be erroneous. some hispanics and Asian-Indians may look black in low light conditions, especially if you cannot see their hair.

Hardest of all is to describe complex color patterns of clothing with accuracy. Consisder a Hawaiian shirt see from 15 to 20 yards. You might be able to say it was a Hawaiian style shirt, predominantely green & white with "other colors" or "also with splashes of blue and reds". But you probably won't know if the patterns were palm fronds or sailboats.

Given knowledge that a likely crime is going down and that I'm not in immediate danger, my recall will be done this way;
Race (white, black, hispanic, asian, etc.)
Estimated age
Hair color
Hair length/style (short, long, curly, mohawk, center part, etc.)
Build (thin, medium, stocky, hefty, fat, obese)
Est. height & weight (plays to build)
Noticeable features (eye color, wide mouth, large nose, big ears, etc.)
Clothing - (color, then style)
Shoes - if noticeable.

The reason I do this (in my mind anyhow) is that clothing is easily and quickly changed. Hair can be a wig or covered by a wig later, but the body size/shape and racial elements are often harder to change easily.

Last time I had to give a description (road rage assault and hit & run) I described the driver as...
Male, hispanic-looking, late 20's/early 30's, medium hair about 2-3 inches long and higher on top than sides, slim build, 5'5" to 5'9", about 145-155 lbs, western cut plaid shirt, mostly red, dark blue (possibly new) denim pants, dark Nike sneakers with white Nike stripe. Appeared unshaven or with dark beard area.

The person caught, when viewed closer and in good light was actually Arabic, not hispanic. Otherwise I was pretty close.

Also, during the "witness interview" the officer inquired abot other features such as eyeglasses, hat, moustache, rings, weapons used, etc. I made it a point to avoid saying "no" or "none" unless I was sure. Otherwise I said "I don't recall seeing ..." The suspect was wearing glasses, but black wire rims which I couldn't see at that distance. And because I didn't see any weapon I responded I didn't see one. If he did use a weapon (i.e. brass knuckles or a knife), even in court I can truthfully say I did not see a weapon (as opposed to he didn't have a weapon).

clear as mud?

[Evan Thomas]

BillCA, that's a great summary.

I try to make this a part of my general situational awareness: if I see someone suspicious, I make a conscious effort to note and remember details of his appearance. I'd like to think this does a couple of things: first, it makes it more likely that if that person does act out, I'll be able to give a good description. Second, it means that I'm in the habit of making mental notes on people's appearance, so if I have to do so unexpectedly, during an incident, I've a better chance of getting it right.

I've been doing this since I was about 12, when I was on the subway with my parents and found myself noting a description of the fellow sitting next to my father, on the opposite seat, and the person sitting back-to-back with him. At the time, it felt like a form of play, but after we got off, my father found his wallet was missing -- they'd picked his pocket. Obviously these guys weren't going to be caught, short of a miracle, but we did go to the police and report the crime. I don't think the cops believed that this 12-year old kid could possibly be giving them such an accurate, detailed description.

It might have been a coincidence -- but I thought then, and I still think, that I unconsciously picked up something not right about the way these guys were acting, which made me pay attention to them. It was a good lesson in trusting my instincts.

[Parapliers]

It might have been a coincidence -- but I thought then, and I still think, that I unconsciously picked up something not right about the way these guys were acting, which made me pay attention to them. It was a good lesson in trusting my instincts.

Always trust your instincts. If you are wrong then you can be happy to have been confused.
My mother had her purse snatched in broad daylight when she came out of the grocery store. The ticket taker at the theater next door witnessed the whole incident and was able to chase the perpetrator down and beat the living daylights right out of him.
Mom went downtown to identify the guy from a lineup. She recognized him immediately but before she could point him out a cop leaned over and told her that he was the one in the blue pants with the red stripes down the legs.
Don't know what happened after that; Mom never heard anything else about it.

[Skans]

I had a situation happen just yesterday, and I'm quite dissapointed in my own ability to remember certain things about the potential perp.

I was getting ready to walk inside to get a sandwich at a Subway when a guy who was dressed somewhat "gangsta" walks in right before I do. I thought I saw a pistol, but he quickly covered whatever it was that I saw and kept his hand in the pocket of his "hoodie".

As I was unarmed, this was the first time that I ever got enough bad vibes to make me turn around and simply leave. I did go get my cell phone and stood nearby ready to call 911 to see what would happen. I saw the guy walk out of the Subway, walk back in again and out again - not buying anything.

About 20 minutes went by, nothing happened and I figured the guy just took off - so I went back inside of the Subway and started to stand in line again. Then I saw the same guy drive a car (silver Toyota with "bling" wheels) into the parking lot and back it into the parking space. He sat in his car with it running (lights were on). He did have a passenger in the car with him - looked like a female.

I again walked out of the Subway, stood nearby and snapped a picture of him sitting in his car with my cell phone. The guy did the same thing - walked inside, walked back out, looked around and got back in his car. Sat there for a few minuites and then finally drove away.

There were quite a few people in and around the Subway sandwich shop. I believe he was going to hold it up but got cold feet.

So, here's what I learned from this experience:

1. I should have been armed
2. I should have called 911, eventhough nothing really happened.
3. Here's the best description that I could give of the guy if I was ever asked: Black male at least 35 years old; About 6' tall; 180 lbs.; flat gold earing in right ear; Bright orange cap; White veloure zipper sweatshirt with something spelled out on the back in small shiney studs with the word "super" in it. Looked to be carrying a black mid-sized gun (fraction of a second - not sure at all about this); can't remember pants or shoes; driving an older silver toyota with possible female passenger.

I guess at least I recognized a bad situation, but I feel like I messed up by not calling 911 and not being armed. I also feel that i didn't get a good enough description of the guy. Having had a chance to reflect on this, I have no doubt that he was ready to hold up the place if he thought the conditions were right.

[B. Lahey]

Yeah, some kind of framework or mental checklist seems like it would help remind you to pay attention to details. Great ideas, keep 'em coming.

Anyone know anything about this KIMS exercise? Seems like the sort of thing that could be done online with a bunch of photos and then a quiz or something, but I haven't been able to dig up anything.

[BobbyT]

First link:

http://tinyurl.com/yjq2dc3

[B. Lahey]

http://tinyurl.com/yjq2dc3

Ah, wikipedia. The septic system of the information world.

I appreciate your snide little link, but it only leads me to the version where you memorize junk on a table. I did google it in many variations, but have yet to come across a version specific to remembering identifying characteristics of people. So yes, it is that hard.

A human-specific version exists, somewhere, but all I have been able to find are references to it without instructions or even the simplest hint of a structure.

Thanks anyway.

[BobbyT]

If you'd read the Wikipedia article, you'd know why you weren't finding much.

It's not a "KIMS exercise", like an acronym for a memorization technique, but simply "Kim's game", where kids memorize stuff on a table.

The name just comes from a girl in a Kipling novel. The links in the Wikipedia article will lead you to it, as well as the Scout's version of the game.

[B. Lahey]

Actually the military, human-specific version is called KIMS. It's a nonsense "backronym" that they say stands for "Keep In Memory System". They love it when stuff stands for stuff, even when it doesn't.

But it exists, somewhere...

[Parapliers]

Heard a Marine type ask a surplus store clerk if he had any scabbards. The clerk directed him to an area where several scabbards were on display. The customer curled up his lips in disgust and started shouting SCABBARD, SCABBARD! The clerk was taken aback but calmly asked specifically what kind of scabbard was he looking for.
The customer bulged his eyes and twisted his head and spoke slowly as if he were explaining to a dim wit "A scabbard is a knife not some kind of sheath. You Army idiots use different words for everything."
Maybe the "KIMS" program could be found by researching field manuals. Wouldn't be surprised if they start out by memorizing junk on a table.

[Tymah123]

Just yesterday I saw an episode of Top Sniper on the Military channel where they shot targets in an urban setting. They specifically discussed this KIMS method and what I recall from the explanation is that the soldiers gave the pictures they were given little nicknames such as: "Kid", "Mole", "Winky" to identify their respective targets. They mentioned nothing about the clothing just the use of descriptive nicknames to remember their targets.

[Daugherty16]

BillCA got most of it. I worked for a bank once in another life, and they made us watch the film every 6 months ("The Robbery").
Start with sex, race, est age, ht, wt, build, hair color;
then coloring (as in shade of black or white, tanned caucasian, etc), facial hair, glasses, tats, clothing.
Then anything else funny - lisp, accent, limp, gold tooth, Goku haircut, missing hand, etc.

They put height markers on all doorframes (look next time you're in the bank) so the estimates would be closer, but everything else aside, i think they were accustomed to frightened tellers who couldn't remember anything except "he had a gun" or "he said he had a bomb" and that's it. Fright is a serious brainkiller.

I think like anything else, you can train yourself to be more observant over time. Think about when you first learned about situational awareness - i know i felt like an idiot when i realized how blind i had really been.

[Evan Thomas]

They put height markers on all doorframes (look next time you're in the bank) so the estimates would be closer

And I thought it was so customers could see how their kids were coming along...

[Daugherty16]

Actually, most people have walked by those things a hundred times without ever seeing them. But probably not people from TFL.

[ZeSpectre]

Does anyone have any tips for noticing and remembering identifying characteristics while under stress?

I kinda work top down.

I was taught "bottom up". Since it's the opposite of how most people observe someone the "unnatural" scan direction sometimes makes stuff stick in your head better.

Always (if possible) get a good description of the shoes. Regardless of clothing changes almost nobody ever changes their shoes.

Don't worry about clothing color (unless it's screaming red or something) just remember "light or dark" and style (hoodie and jeans). Skin and hair color are usually good, of course height and weight.

Write everything you saw down ASAP even if you have to pause and loose sight of the suspect. I carry a voice recorder for work now but started doing that back on the beat so I could dictate descriptions in a hurry then I didn't need to rely on memory (which is VERY unreliable). A friend of mine called his own voicemail and dictated descriptions for later recall and was amazed how little he remembered accurately just 20 minutes later.

[Dwight55]

A number of years ago, I worked as an electrician for a major bank in Columbus, Ohio.

One day I went up and repaired a receptacle in our training center, and when I left, our security chief told all the students to write a description of me as if I had been a robber.

What a hoot when he called me into his office to let me see "my description". I was 6'2", 160 lb, brown hair, blue eyes with a light green/dark green uniform and brown belt & harness boots. In the descriptions, . . . there was about a 1 foot range in height, . . . most got the "slim" build OK, . . . shirt/pants color varied all over the place, . . . and nobody got the harness boots. Nobody also got the custom black leather tool pouch and belt (and I thought they were super keen).

I learned the lesson right there on the spot, . . . LOOK and REMEMBER was the key, . . . still is. Keep repeating, verbally, what you saw, . . . write it down as soon as you can, . . . include all details, no matter how small.

May God bless,
Dwight

[B. Lahey]

I was taught "bottom up". Since it's the opposite of how most people observe someone the "unnatural" scan direction sometimes makes stuff stick in your head better.

I tried this a few times today and it seems to work. I don't think I've ever looked at shoes before, it's amazing the weird junk people cram their feet into.

The conscious break from looking around normally to noticing and eyeballing somebody from feet to head kind of makes it stand out in your memory.

[BillCA]

Sometimes cops hate having too many witnesses. All are almost "positive" that what they saw was correct. Problem is, they agree on very few points.

When you correlate the information, your suspect description comes out like this;

A tall, short, heavy-set fat thin white hispanic black man with thick, bushy thinning blonde dark hair, bald on top, wearing thick plastic wire-rim glasses, clean-shaven with a beard mustache goatee. He was wearing a solid plaid brown, green, blue striped shirt with gray, black dark blue pants, dress wingtip sneakers with white or black socks.

[R1145]

I work on license plate numbers while I drive, trying to get them at a glance, then repeating the numbers aloud to imprint them.

For descriptions, pretty much what has been stated earlier, with these comments:

- Is the person older or younger than I am?

- Do they remind me of someone?

- Can I give them a "nickname"?

Again, while driving, pick out people and describe them to yourself.

[JollyRoger]

Go for the basics, and pay particular attention to clothes, hair length or style - anything that will be distinctive and can be transmitted over a radio. Also a good vehicle description, if applicable. You don't have to concentrate on memorizing the guy's face - people are naturally inclined to remember faces in the short term: it's part of your hard-wiring.

The police stand a much better chance of catching a guy if you can give them a general race, weight, height and specific clothing, because they can look for that on a walking/running individual or on a car stop as soon as they get in the area, off a radio advisory from dispatch. If they make a quick catch, they can come back for a show up, or later do a photo spread and you will probably recognize the guy. If they cannot make a quick catch, the likelihood is that a lot of time will pass and you may not remember by the time they get a photo spread to you (if they ever identify the bad guy.)

I've done a lot of bank robbery witness interviews, and have found witnesses usually can't get colors right. One guy will say the robber had a white baseball cap, the other guy swears it was black. The video may reveal it is orange. The problem is twofold: the initial radio call will be wrong, possibly allowing the bad guy to get away although he is in plain sight, and the witness, who may legitimately be able to make an id, has a credibility problem because he got the colors wrong. Imagine the cross examination on the witness stand: you could identify my client's face, but you could not tell a white hat from an orange one? No, the cops coached you on the photo spread, didn't they?

Contrary to popular belief, you don't see a lot of clothing quick-changes among robbers - they're usually not that bright or they would be doing white-collar crime, where the real money is. I've seen occasions where the bad guy was picked up days after a robbery and was still wearing the same distinctive shirt worn during the robbery, or worse yet a murderer who was picked up several days after a murder still wearing a shirt that had a visible blood stain - the victim's blood.

[Neruda]

On a Friday/Saturday night some 30 years ago when I was a university student in England, I was walking back from the disco in the early hours of the morning - probably 3 am. It was night, I was a little drunk. But a youngish type passed me in the street and was clearly carrying a pistol - not threatening me or anything, but in his hand with his arm pointing downwards. Guns in England are not common! So I decided to call the police and report my encounter.

Anyway, initially the police said thanks and they might be in contact - more or less implying I was wasting police time. However later on Saturday morning an officer came to my house requesting I looked at photos of suspects in the police station. I must have spent over two hours looking at photo albums of bad guys - all of whom looked real ugly and most of whom had tried to distort their faces to make identification difficult - when suddenly I saw a face that ringed a bell.

I was apologetic to the police - I wasn't sure - and I didn't want to get the wrong guy involved etc. It was night. I had been half-cut. I only saw him for a few seconds etc.

But I was right in my identification. The gun was in fact a replica stolen from a local theatre.

My point here is that we often remember more than we think - even in adverse circumstances. Often our memory can be triggered by a good interviewer or aids such as the photo albums in my case.