They Called 911 For Help. Junk Science Labeled Them As Liars.

Prosecutors know it’s junk science. But that hasn’t stopped some from promoting his methods and even deploying 911 call analysis in court to win convictions.



By ProPublica — March 11, 2023
by Brett Murphy

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Series: Words of Conviction
Tracing a Junk Science Through the Justice System

Tracy Harpster, a deputy police chief from suburban Dayton, Ohio, was hunting for praise.

He had a business to promote: a miracle method to determine when 911 callers are actually guilty of the crimes they are reporting. “I know what a guilty father, mother or boyfriend sounds like,” he once said.

Harpster tells police and prosecutors around the country that they can do the same. Such linguistic detection is possible, he claims, if you know how to analyze callers’ speech patterns — their tone of voice, their pauses, their word choice, even their grammar. Stripped of its context, a misplaced word as innocuous as “hi” or “please” or “somebody” can reveal a murderer on the phone.

https://crooksandliars.com/2023/03/they-called-911-help-junk-science-decided

Long article good read.....I just wonder if Mr. Harpster ever had someone on the line that had a speech impediment......just a thought....