ADVOKATE: A Mnemonic Tool for the Assessment of Eyewitness Evidence

ADVOKATE: A Mnemonic Tool for Assessment of Eyewitness Evidence

A tool for assessing eyewitness 

ADVOKATE is a tool designed to assess eyewitness evidence and how much it is reliable. It requires the user to respond to several statements/questions. Forensic psychologists, police or investigative officer can do it.

The mnemonic ADVOKATE stands for:

• A = amount of time under observation (event and act)
• D = distance from suspect
• V = visibility (night-day, lighting)
• O = obstruction to the view of the witness
• K = known or seen before when and where (suspect)
• A = any special reason for remembering the subject
• T = time-lapse (how long has it been since witness saw suspect)
• E = error or material discrepancy between the description given first or any subsequent accounts by a witness. 

Working with suspects (college.police.uk)