Interviewing and Interrogation

Lesson Overview: How are crimes solved?  When someone makes the decision to talk to the police  Influenced by the communication skills of the interviewer

The Communication Process: The Berlo SMCR Model  For an interview to occur:  A person initiates the interaction (the source)  A person receives and interprets the means (the receiver)  Meaning is conveyed through our 5 senses

Purpose of the Interview  The purpose of the interview is to gather information.  Approximately 80% of police investigative work consists of interviewing!

Characteristics of an Interview  Non-accusatory  Purpose is gather information  Should be conducted early in the investigation  Variety of environments  Free flowing  May need to take notes

Categories of Persons to be Interviewed: Victim  A victim is the person who is the object of an incident, crime, or other harm caused against them.  These interviews are influenced by prejudice, anger, pain, and fear in addition to age, gender, cognitive abilities, and fear of disclosure.

Categories of Persons to be Interviewed: Witnesses  A witness is someone who personally sees, hears, or otherwise observes something relating to the incident under investigation.  Eyewitness evidence is notoriously inaccurate, incomplete, and unreliable.

Categories of Persons to be Interviewed: Suspects  A suspect is the person that the police officer has reasonable cause to believe committed a specific crime.  In addition to sharing the same influences as the victim, a suspect has consequences to fear!

The Definition of Interrogation  An interrogation is an exercise in persuasion with the goal of eliciting a truthful confession.  Persuade: to influence or gain over by argument, advice, or entreaty  Elicit: to draw out or entice forth

Purpose of the Interrogation  It is meant to encourage the suspect to provide evidence of guilt or involvement in an event.  Sought by the interrogator is a confession or admission.

Confession  A statement made by a defendant disclosing his or her guilt of a crime with which he was charged and excluding the possibility of a reasonable inference to the contrary.  “I killed her”

Admission  An acknowledgement of guilty conduct containing only facts from which guilt may or may not be inferred.  Ex. “Is this your car?”  “Yes.”  “This was the car used in a robbery recently”

Characteristics of an Interrogation  Accusatory  Involves active persuasion  Purpose = learn the truth!  Controlled environment  Suspected guilt  Notes are not initially taken

Personal Qualities of the Interviewer  The process of successful interviewing includes:  Putting aside personal prejudices and biases  Developing a genuine curiosity  Having a positive attitude  A willingness to develop rapport  Becoming knowledgeable  Being professional

Rapport Development  Rapport is the communication that results when two people agree on the means and willingness to communicate.

Knowledgeable  Keeps asking questions and continues to learn from each case  Does not make judgments based on past encounters that were similar  Knows that the answers must be learned from the circumstances and will only come through listening and watching

Professionalism  Demands that each investigation begins without case bias or preconceived notions about the victim  Requires patience and persistence  Is the capacity to demonstrate respect for others

Communication for Rapport  Communication includes both verbal and non-verbal messages  Information communicated is about 65% non-verbal  Verbal communication is about 35% of information related

Matching  Matching is a subtle form of the interviewer mimicking the nonverbal and paralanguage behaviors of the person being interviewed.

Kinesics  Kinesics is a form of non-verbal communication that includes:  Body language  Facial expressions  Gestures

Matching Kinesic Communications  When two people are communicating effectively their body language will be aligned  Facial expressions include both conscious and unconscious movement of the nose, lips, eyebrows, tongue, and eyes  When an interviewer attempts to develop rapport defensive signals need to be overcome in order for the interview to proceed effectively

Examples of Facial Expressions  Eyebrows frown for anger or concentration and rise for intensity  Pupils of the eyes get larger during fear and smaller during rest  Lips may move into a grin to show happiness, grimace for fear, or pout to indicate sadness  Wide eyes typically indicates surprise or excitement; narrowed eyes indicate disagreement or a threat

Examples of Gestures  Rubbing one’s ear is an indication the person does not know the answer to a question  Swaying backwards in the chair points to an individual with a weak ego  Crossing of the arms is a defensive posture, the person has become cautious

Proxemics  The study of our use of space and how various differences in that use makes us feel more relaxed or more anxious

Proxemics Spacing  Intimate space  0 to 1.5 feet  Personal-casual space  1.5 to 4 feet  Social- consultive space  5 to 10 feet  Public space  10 feet and beyond