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Original poster

You witness a crime and

63 replies

Soubriquet · 15/12/2021 18:11

A sketch artist is in their way to interview you to get an idea of what the suspect looks like.

Would you be able to give an accurate description including approx weight, approx height and approx age?

I would stand no chance. I can barely recognise people I’ve actually properly met before let alone some random criminal

OP posts:
WinterDeWinter · 15/12/2021 20:27

Plot twist with one being a boy and the other a girl?
Arf @Soubriquet

nancybotwinbloom · 15/12/2021 20:29

Yes.

There's a good test you can do online about being a super recogniser. Not suggesting I am one at all but I could recall faves etc etc.

www.superrecognisers.com/

It passed the time when I couldn't sleep the other night.

I'd just read a book about it j.s monroe the other you. It was good.

WinterDeWinter · 15/12/2021 20:38

@nancybotwinbloom

Yes.

There's a good test you can do online about being a super recogniser. Not suggesting I am one at all but I could recall faves etc etc.

www.superrecognisers.com/

It passed the time when I couldn't sleep the other night.

I'd just read a book about it j.s monroe the other you. It was good.

Wednesday night sorted. Although, I wonder if the ADHD will make me hyperfocus. I can imagine being really good at this if I know in advance - it's more the casual 'what just happened?' question that leaves me mystified...
Niconacotaco · 15/12/2021 20:46

I am always amazed when people mention eye colour. I don't know the eye colour of my friends or family (except kids and DH). It's not something I ever pay attention to.
Height and weight - I could make a guess at average height, normal weight etc but nothing helpful.

NannyGythaOgg · 15/12/2021 21:56

I would be crap. Probably pick out some identifying feature if it was strong enough. EG how dark haired Peter Sutcliffe was - but if they were fairly average I would have no chance.

What is amazing to me is that some people think they can but actually describe their own vision of a stereotypical 'villain'. (or afterwards 'I always knew there was something about him') when they had never shown any hint that they thought there was something odd about a person.

nancybotwinbloom · 15/12/2021 21:57

@WinterDeWinter let us know how you get on!

itsutterlyshit · 15/12/2021 22:00

I'd be awful. I have the worst memory at the best of times it's even worse under pressure. I'd be ok with height, build, ethnicity, hair colour. But things like clothes etc I wouldn't have a clue.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 15/12/2021 22:00

Having been in that position... I could give their height in relation to mine, their build, their skin colour and hair colour. And that they were male (since they were naked).

SickAndTiredAgain · 15/12/2021 22:02

@nancybotwinbloom

Yes.

There's a good test you can do online about being a super recogniser. Not suggesting I am one at all but I could recall faves etc etc.

www.superrecognisers.com/

It passed the time when I couldn't sleep the other night.

I'd just read a book about it j.s monroe the other you. It was good.

I got 9/14. Not sure what an average score would be but I did not find it easy and definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it if I hadn’t known in advance I needed to study the faces.
ChardonnaysPetDragon · 15/12/2021 22:04

No way. I pity the poor sketch artist who would be working with me.

NetballHoop · 15/12/2021 22:08

I would have to explain to the police that I have been known to see a stranger and mistake them for my own children.

I am very "face blind".

girafferafferaffe · 15/12/2021 22:11

God honestly I wouldn't be able to do this AT ALL. If they knocked my glasses off I'd be able to see even less!

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 15/12/2021 22:11

And I just scored 10/14 on the test.

Cosmos123 · 15/12/2021 22:17

I could barely describe my colleagues who I worked with for years in terms if face shape nose lips eye colour.

I could give ethnicity, sex and height I.e taller or shorter than me.
Maybe fatter or thinner.

That's it.

Percypigg · 15/12/2021 22:21

I've been in that position and the police said it was the most detailed account they'd ever read. They had cctv footage to back up what I'd said but couldn't access it immediately.

I remember describing the woman and commented that she was wearing fake chestnut ugg boots. The detective asked how I knew that they were fake and I said that it was obvious to me because they had scrunched down at the back of the heel (to be fair, I think that most women could spot a fake pair). Anyway, it was like replaying a film in my mind. I was v calm despite the circs (attempted murder). It was very strange and I didn't react as I'd have imagined.

Makewomenfemaleagain · 15/12/2021 22:32

@nancybotwinbloom

Yes.

There's a good test you can do online about being a super recogniser. Not suggesting I am one at all but I could recall faves etc etc.

www.superrecognisers.com/

It passed the time when I couldn't sleep the other night.

I'd just read a book about it j.s monroe the other you. It was good.

That was fun! Thanks for the link @nancybotwinbloom!
You witness a crime and
CheshireChat · 15/12/2021 22:40

But why are all of them male and white?!

I'd be dreadful, utterly dreadful.

girafferafferaffe · 15/12/2021 22:41

Oh! I got 12 out of 14 on that test though so maybe I am a bit better than I thought haha

Thefuturestory · 15/12/2021 22:44

I’m rubbish at it!

MustDust · 15/12/2021 22:48

That test was interesting. I got 12 and DH got 6, however in real life I am incredibly face blind and realised I have aphantasia, I do know how to study and pass a test which that effectively was. DH can describe something he saw in great detail and has done when caught in a serious crime, however cannot pass a test like I can. If he saw those people on the street he could close his eyes and see them again in full detail, I probably wouldn't even notice them in the first place.

Hohofortherobbers · 15/12/2021 22:55

I try to remember what people look like by considering who else that I know that they resemble. If I had to help an artists impression I'd probably end up with a man hunt for my old geography teacher Grin

Mrsmch123 · 15/12/2021 23:01

I think I would be good. Once I see a face I tend to remember. I'm always saying to my husband if we are in town or something ohh there's the lady that works in tesco/Asda. It baffles him😂

JustLyra · 15/12/2021 23:09

I’d be terrible.

When I was a teenager the shop I worked in got held up. The only detail I could remember was that one of them had on a green jacket and the cuffs and sleeves of said jacket were slightly different shades of green.

Utterly hopeless,

NetballHoop · 15/12/2021 23:43

I got 10 on the test. I did guess a few though.

it's utterly unrealistic as you can study the face for as long as you want and you know you are going to be asked about them.
A far better test would be to show you a group of people and then ask you to pi k one of them out of a line up.

uggmum · 15/12/2021 23:49

I have witnessed 2 armed robberies and each time I have identified the perpetrators.

Robbery 1

I worked at a building society. We were raided just before closing. He had a shotgun. He stood right in front of me at the counter. I had cashed up and had to show him my empty till drawer. He was eventually caught. I attended the identity parade. He was pleading not guilty. But after the parade he changed his plea

He was the shortest, ugliest man I had ever seen. He had enormous lips. I could have picked him out of a crowd of 1000 people.

Robbery 2

I was on holiday. Walking along the pavement. A car drove up the street. Parked badly. I had to step into the road to see past the car (to cross the road). I told the driver off as he had parked like a twat. He stared at me and looked a bit angry.
I thought it looked odd. It was a hot day and he was sat in the car wearing a thick woolly hat. There were 3 of them in the car.
My spider senses were up. I crossed the road and said to my husband, "they look odd. They look like they are going to rob a bank". We discussed calling the police but thought they would think we were mad.
We went into a shop further down the street.

10 minutes later. We heard a commotion. The high class jewellers was being robbed at gun point. They held a gun to the owner's head. Stole thousands of pounds of Rolex watches.

I came forward as a witness. It appeared I was the only one that had seen their faces. The black hats were balaclavas. Which they rolled down after I saw them.
They were caught. I identified them.
I was summoned to trial as a witness. They changed their plea to guilty a few hours before I was due to attend.

All of them were sentenced to at least 8 years each.