Why do we have police officers testify in their uniforms?

[davidn3600]

I always wondered this...and I wonder if it makes a difference. And I know not all police testify in uniform, detectives usually don't. But does it matter?

To make it simple, say there is a trial that has two witnesses. The prosecution's witness is an experienced police officer and wearing his uniform. He identifies the defendant as the guilty party to the crime scene. The defense then has a witness who is a civilian, and his testimony conflicts with the officer suggesting the defendant is innocent.

With all other elements of credibility being equal, which witness is the jury likely to believe?

We always make sure the defendant on trial is shown in the courtroom wearing civilian clothing. Otherwise if the defendant is wearing jail clothes or looks like a prisoner, there is fear that a jury may even subconsciously draw conclusions of guilt based on that appearance.

Wouldn't it make sense that police should testify in trials wearing civilian clothing? Starting as children we are programmed by society to trust the police. And as we grow up we mostly still respect the police even though we learn that they can be wrong. During a trial, it is not uncommon for testimony to conflict between witnesses. One of the duties of the jury is to find the truth and they typically rely on credibility to determine who is likely telling the truth. When you have a witness as an experienced police officer in uniform, his testimony is going to be incredibly difficult for the defense to overcome no matter how credible and respectable their civilian witness may be.

Or does it not even matter? Will the fact that the prosecutor continually says "Officer...." during questioning also lead to a bias?

Just something that I've always wondered....

[Common Sense Party]

1. Everyone should be in shorts and T-shirts? Or prison-issue jumpsuits?

Cops are cops. When they testify, why shouldn't they dress like a cop?

The detectives dress like detectives--blazer, slacks.

I just don't follow you here.

[msongs]

2. depends who is on the jury, authoritarian believers or evidence believers nt

[DevonRex]

3. Because they are on duty.

When they are on duty they are in uniform. Period.

[branford]

4. +1. It would be the same with member of the military.

[Brother Buzz]

5. Lt. "That's my mark on it" Tragg never wore a uniform

Then again, I never saw a jury either.

[LWolf]

6. Weight of authority. nt

[MADem]

7. They're on the clock. They aren't on vacation, they're at work.

After they testify, if it's their shift, they have to go back to their assigned duties.

Every court appearance I've seen, be it trial, or jury duty, where police are expected to testify, the judge tells the jury that you shouldn't add or subtract any weight for police testimony.

Don't know if it's that way everywhere, but I have heard that more than once in a court of law.

[rug]

8. You're correct. The uniform is used to vouch for their credibility.

Of course, that often can be turned against them.

There was a priest in NYC who worked as a defense attorney for Legal Aid some time ago. He always appeared in court wearing his collar. The prosecution made a pretrial motion to ban him from wearing his collar on the ground that it would influence the jury and prejudice the state.

It eventually wound up in Federal Court before the Second Circuit.

https://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/662/662.F2d.144.49.81-7234.html

[Downwinder]

9. Makes it easier to tell who is lying.

[Ednahilda]

10. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Beautiful!

On a serious note, there used to be a guy who wrote a syndicated fashion/clothing column which appeared in our local paper. He was quite insistent that uniforms of all kinds - from meter maids to doctors - enhanced the authority of the wearer. I have no doubt that many people's opinion about a case could be swayed by seeing a cop in a crisply-ironed uniform.

[Fawke Em]

11. Several reasons.

Some is because it gives the appearance of authority, but mostly it's because they're either on-duty or going to be pulling their regular shift afterward.

I was a crime reporter for 10 years. I saw cops testify in both uniforms and suits.