Demonstrating the Super-Recognizer Advantage for Law Enforcement

15 y after their initial discovery, so-called Super-Recognizers (SRs) – individuals withexceptional face recognition abilities – are increasingly deployed by international policeagencies. Currently, however, there is lacking empirical evidence supporting their utilityfor law enforcement. A single study, published 2 y ago, suggests that individualsidentified as SRs in the lab can improve forensic perpetrator identification. However, itsobservations were based on an extremely small forensic stimulus set, obtained from apredominantly civilian sample. Here, reporting data collected among all ~18K BerlinPolice officers employed in 2021, we provide the first large-scale, real-world validationof SR deployment, and publicly share all individual-level behavioral data obtained. Wereports officers' performance under operationally relevant, highly challenging 1:n facialidentity matching conditions via the Berlin Test for Super-Recognizer Identification(beSure®) – the only existing tool that uses authentic forensic material. Our findingsshow that, as a group, lab-identified SRs exhibit increased proficiency across a rangeof forensically relevant tasks. However, lab-based SR selection methods showedlimited sensitivity at the individual level. This study emphasizes the value of bespoke,professionally relevant assessment for deployment within law enforcement, and theneed for empirical investigations into SR deployment. As agencies increasinglyintegrate biometric technologies, evidence-based approaches for understandinghumans' varied perceptual capacities and their implications for decisions is imperativein order to improve criminal investigation and prosecution.