Blue Sign Project

According to The Innocence Project, 70% of all wrongful convictions in the United States are due to mistaken eyewitness identification. These eyewitness identifications are often misguided and are the result of being asked leading questions by administrators, inhumane treatment during interrogations, the psychological pressure put on the suspect by officers, and forensic evidence not backed by scientific studies. Despite the number of studies done by countless scientists on the reliability of memory, many judges still consider an eye-witness testimony as one of the more reliable pieces of evidence. The other being a confession from the suspect themselves. However, many suspects submit to psychological pressure inflicted by officers during interrogations. This often makes an innocent man or women admit to a crime he or she did not commit. Despite the availability of simple measures to reform these mistaken procedures, false conviction is still a common theme in our justice system.

The BlueSign Project wants to ensure safety and security to those who have been accused through environmental design. Our goal is to help prevent false convictions from happening by creating a new signage system for police precincts that inform and remind police officers of the correct procedures as well as warn them of faulty procedures that are proven to be ineffective but are still used. After all, we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, aren’t we?