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MotorFit: An Evaluation

NCJ Number
151835
Author(s)
M O'Brien; D C Norton
Date Published
1993
Length
61 pages
Annotation
MotorFit is a computer program and database developed in England to aid the identification of a vehicle suspected of involvement in a crime.
Abstract
The system obtains information about the vehicle from a witness, uses the information to search the database consisting of 2,108 vehicle types, and recognizes possible matches. The most likely matches are selected and photographs are presented to the witness who is asked to make an identification. The Metropolitan Police Service (London) conducted an evaluation in which MotorFit was assessed for administrative convenience, user friendliness, and identification success. During the evaluation period (August 1992- April 1993), MotorFit was used in the investigation of 12 serious crimes. Large proportions of police officers and witnesses judged the system to be convenient, based on two variables of travel time and session length. Eighty-eight percent of witnesses found the system to be user-friendly and 78 percent found the overall procedure involved in vehicle identification to be helpful. Over 50 percent of the officers involved felt that MotorFit helped their investigations. The report concludes that MotorFit uses time efficiently and, if used frequently, is a cost-effective solution to the problem of vehicle identification. 10 notes and 12 appendixes