There are many procedures that police stations and other people involved in the investigation of a criminal activity use in order for the suspect to be identified by an eyewitness. In South Florida and all of its jurisdictions, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Broward County, Miami Dade County and Palm Beach County, the three most commonly used identification procedures are lineups, showups and of course photo identifications.
The lineup is when the police stations gathers around six people, among which there is the suspect, and line them up for the witness to look at them. The lineup will have the suspects and also what are called decoys, who in some way resemble the suspect or resemble the description given by the eyewitness.
The showup is when the eyewitness has a one on one identification, that is, when they only view one person that is considered to be the suspect. This can happen at the crime scene, at the police station or other places.
The other commonly used procedure to identify suspects is the photo identification. The police show mug shots, or head shots, to the witness.
Not only are these procedures used to identify a suspect, but it is also used to eliminate a certain individual from the “suspect list”.