Design/methodology/approach -A detailed account is given of the interaction between practitioner and witness for producing a facial composite. This account involves an overview of the Cognitive Interview (CI) and the Holistic CI (H-CI) techniques used to obtain a description of the face of an offender (target); we then describe how this information is used to produce a composite from five popular face-production systems: Sketch, PRO-fit, E-FIT, EvoFIT and EFIT-V. An online annex is also made available to provide procedural information for additional composite systems. Practical implications -The work is valuable to forensic practitioners and researchers as a reference for interviewing techniques (involving a CI or an H-CI) and using facial-composite systems.Originality/value -We provide an accessible, current guide for how to administer interviewing techniques and how to construct composites from a range of face-production systems. Keywords Facial composite, Sketch, PRO-fit, E-FIT, EvoFIT, EFIT-V, Cognitive Interview (CI), Holistic CI (H-CI) Paper type ProceduralAcknowledgements The authors would like to thank Claire Ford, Emily Graham and Claire Madin,

Justice systems around the world are increasingly turning to videoconferencing as a means to reduce delays and reduce costs in legal processes. This preliminary research examined whether interviewing a witness remotely-without physical co-presence of the witness and interviewer-could facilitate the production of quality facial composite sketches of suspects. In Study 1, 42 adults briefly viewed a photograph of a face. The next day they participated in Cognitive Interviews with a forensic artist, conducted either face-to-face or remotely via videoconference. In Study 2, 20 adults participated in videoconferenced interviews, and we manipulated the method by which they viewed the developing sketch. In both studies, independent groups of volunteers rated the likeness of the composites to the original photographs. The data suggest that remote interviews elicited effective composites; however, in Study 1 these composites were considered poorer matches to the photographs than were those produced in face-to-face interviews. The differences were small, but significant. Participants perceived several disadvantages to remote interviewing, but also several advantages including less pressure and better concentration. The results of Study 2 suggested that different sketch presentation methods offered different benefits. We propose that remote interviewing could be a useful tool for investigators in certain circumstances.

This is a repository copy of The impact of external facial features on the construction of facial composites.