Police Investigator Decision Making in High Profile Cases

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Criminal investigations by law enforcement provide a critical aspect of the criminal justice process. Some investigations occur under the media spotlight, as high profile cases have the potential to exert public pressure on law enforcement as they conduct those investigations. While some high profile cases result in wrongful convictions, there is little scientific confirmation that wrongful convictions are more, or less, prevalent in high profile cases. This project will examine criminal investigations in the context of high profile cases, to determine whether a relationship exists between high profile crimes and wrongful convictions.The project employs an experimental approach to examine how the psychological theory of confirmation bias comes into play in criminal investigations that take place under high media attention. It does so by analyzing whether confirmation bias is exacerbated in high profile criminal cases. Confirmation bias occurs when individuals subjectively interpret information in order to confirm their preexisting beliefs, often while ignoring, discrediting, or reinterpreting inconsistent information. High profile cases, where the media and the public exert pressure on the police to make an arrest, could have an effect on investigators' confirmation bias, which may further influence the possibility of a wrongful conviction when an innocent person is identified as the suspect. The experiments in this study will evaluate relations between confirmation bias, high profile cases, and wrongful convictions; as well, the project will investigate the influence of potential debiasing strategies. In this way, the project will examine confirmation bias in an investigative context, focusing on the role of high profile cases and innocence, as well as strategies to ameliorate confirmation bias.