Your Eyes Are Playing Tricks on You
#22 December Challenge
Prompt: We’ve discussed issues with eyewitnesses in previous prompts, but now we will look at it differently. People want to help solve a crime and have seen things that lead nowhere. This phenomenon increases by over 100 times as many accounts when the crime involves a child. People will believe that the cable van was parked outside for weeks (it was there yesterday and today only) or that they saw a strange white windowless van (the standard Ford Kidnapper 2023) drive by several times in the last month, which they did not. These accounts slow down solve rates by police tracking false leads. But why does it happen? Is it truly just people trying to help? Is it fear? Do they believe they saw something, or are they just using the crime to get on the news? Why does this happen? Don’t research it — think about it.
All I want for Christmas is a fun prompt, lol. These are incredibly dark, and I don’t have an answer to most of them. I’ve never studied psychology. I can watch an excellent psycho-thriller, but the moving parts of solving a crime exceed my pay grade. At one point, I wanted to be a homicide detective, but that was short-lived because my mental health couldn’t handle the stories, reasoning, and trauma.
I wish that the majority of my answers didn’t involve race, but the research has proven time and time again how much race plays in our current society. In 2022 alone, a staggering 153,374 children of color went missing1 — the Black and Missing Foundation’s. Although the prompt mentions that most people want to participate in finding a child, I would question if it’s for all children of all races and backgrounds, not just those who look like them.
Topics like this are depressing to me for the simple fact that history has shown that my blackness will be overlooked and forgotten about just based on how I look. I can only imagine how the parents of their missing children must feel. Thank goodness for social media to raise and spread awareness.
It’s a shame that at least twice a day, someone is getting video-tapped and harassed, asking strangers about where they live; this is a gated community; you shouldn’t be here and who they know. If those same people use that energy to find and locate missing children, they will have the key to the city.
People want to feel like heroes in their own or others’ stories. The psychology of this phenomenon is weird but also intriguing. Until we understand how the subconscious mind works, we will better understand why we create illusions and how and why we tend to believe our lies.
The stories we read, movies we watch, and other media we consume determine whether we can provide a truthful description. We haven’t even touched the surface of biases and stereotypes we’ve learned. Our lies have caused innocent people to go to jail, which robs them of life, and doesn’t trust the judicial system.
One bright and sunny day, I was at home doing what I do best: minding my business. Suddenly, I heard a loud rumbling helicopter circling my neighborhood. Over the loudspeaker, the man states they are looking for a black male with a white shirt and black basketball shorts. While my brother was home to visit, he walked into the house with a white shirt and black basketball shorts. As the oldest sibling, I find this significantly scary regarding my only brother. Someone can confuse my brother with someone else which can destroy his life.
We meet and greet people all day, depending on our plans, and most of the time, I can’t describe what anyone looks like. Can you remember the color of the cashier’s eyeshadow? or the placement of their teeth? How about what jewelry she had on?
If you’re anything like me, I’m trying to get in, get what I need, and get out. I’m not scanning every person I say hello to to check for strengths and weaknesses. Life isn’t a PS5 game, and we can’t go out in the world wanting to create a player to help you feel better about catching a criminal.
I think if you’re going to make a bold statement about what you saw and how you saw it, if you can’t provide an in-depth description of what you witnessed, then it’s probably best not to use your instincts to crowd the tip line and lie about what you saw.
Tagging Ruby Noir 😈 I hope I answered the prompt.






