identity parade

identity parade (plural identity parades)

1. (UK, Ireland, law enforcement) A process by which a witness confirms the identity of a criminal suspect, by viewing the suspect together with other people who were not involved in the crime.

   Synonyms: identification parade, lineup, police lineup

   • 1943, Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear‎, London: Heinemann, published 1950, Book 1, Chapter 4, p. 61:

     He moved through the circle and sat down on Cost’s left like a criminal taking his place in an identity parade.

   • 1984, Alan Hunter, chapter 6, in The Unhanged Man‎, New York: Walker, pages 87–88:

     ‘I deny it, I utterly deny it, my movements were those I’ve given you.’
     ‘Yet you refuse to take part in an identity parade?’