1. Traditional, Structural, and Inferential Interviewing with Statement Analysis Techniques
Chapter 4
4-1

2. Traditional Interviewing
Just-the-facts approach
Use for witness evaluation
Preliminary assessments
To obtain emergency response information
For field interviewing with limited time

3. Identify the Sources Side-tracker
One who falsely claims involvement as a witness or suspect to a crime

4. Complainant
The person who reports a crime or accuses another of an offense
Victim or witness

5. Guidelines for Traditional Interviewing
Ask questions to answer in any order
Who, what, when, where, why, how

6. Determine the Actus Reus
Determine if a crime has been committed
Determine the nature of the offense

7. Obtain an Admission Where Relevant
An admission is when a person gives information of having been involved in a crime but downplays their role or lies about the extent of their behavior

8. What? What offense was committed? What happened? What weapon was used?
What was said?
What did the eyewitness hear or see?

9. What?
Avoid leading questions
Avoid sounding accusatory

10. Who?
Who is the victim?
Who is the perpetrator?
Who are the witnesses?

11. Who?
Get names, addresses, telephone numbers, and physical descriptions
Find out if there are any family relationships
Obtain prior record information
Search records for outstanding warrants

12. When? When did this incident occur? When was the event reported?
When did injuries occur?
When did the injured seek medical attention?

13. When Is the incident still ongoing? How old or new is the complaint?
Has this type of offense ever occurred against the victim in the past?

14. Where? Where was the location of the incident?
Where did the event begin and where did it end?
Where were the witnesses located in relation to the offense?

15. Where? Determine the jurisdiction of the crime
Does the event cross multiple jurisdictions?
Were the witnesses located to accurately view or hear what they report?
Were there indications of force or forced entry?

16. Why?
Establish the mens rea
Perpetrator state of mind

17. Mens Rea Purposefulness: What is the reason or goal of the act?
Knowing: What was the activity that the person should have known will bring consequences?
Reckless behavior: Is the behavior one that increases the risk of harm?
Neglect: A failure to act where a duty of care exists

18. How? How did it happen? How was the victim approached?
How did the perpetrator gain access?
How often has a similar event occurred?

19. How? Include information leading up to the event and after the event
Determine the sequence of events

20. Conducting the Traditional Interview
Treat all with dignity
Be courteous and professional
Avoid professional jargon
Do not make ANY promises
Never suggest confidentiality
Establish rapport

21. Tools Use sketches and drawings
Leave with the understanding they may be contacted again
Get contact information

22. Indirect Approach Exploratory to find out what they know
Use open-ended questions
Clarifying questions
Avoid leading questions

23. Vs. Direct Approach Ask specific questions Avoid leading questions
Use with an uncooperative person
Determine source of difficulty

24. Structural Interview
Designed to maximize recall and minimize contamination
Adds rapport building, narrative description, and an ample interviewee response to the traditional interview method

25. Structural Interview Incorporate active listening skills
Use of open-ended questions
Appropriate non-verbal behavior
Encourage active participation by the interviewee
Do not interrupt narratives
Record accurately and completely

26. Structural Interviewing Steps
Build rapport
Obtain narrative description from non-leading and open questions
Allow ample interviewee response time

27. Structural Interviewing Steps
Use specific probing questions to elaborate
Request the interviewee recount the entire event a second time

28. Inferential Interviewing: Four Principles to Discover Dishonesty
Coherency: A statement should make sense by not violating the rules of nature or contradicting itself

29. Discover Dishonesty
2. Response Rate: Deception is associated with shorter response length, a slower rate of speech, and more speech errors (verbal leakage)

30. Discover Dishonesty
3. Type-Token Ratio: Unique words divided by total words in a statement

31. Discover Dishonesty
4. Verbal Hedges: Verbal techniques used to buy additional processing time

32. Verbal Hedging
Methods to avoid answering and to buy time

33. Examples of Verbal Hedging
Unnecessary use of connectors— Uhs… ums… ands… ors…
Repeating all or part of the interviewer’s question before responding
Claimed lack of memory
I couldn’t see, wasn’t paying attention
Repeated extraneous information
He said, she said, he did, she did

34. Statement Analysis
A word-by-word examination of the grammar within a statement
Can be used with any method of interviewing as an assessment of deception
Both written and oral statements can be evaluated

35. Components of Statement Analysis
Parts of speech
Extraneous information
Lack of conviction
Statement balance

36. Parts of Speech Evaluate pronoun, noun, verb, adjective
Establish the norm in the statement
Look for changes to the norm, evaluate why

37. Example
Example in rape case: My story (noun) has never changed; I would never hurt (verb) the child (adjective), I love (verb) him

38. Pronouns
Truthful persons provide statements using the pronoun “I,” first person singular
Overuse of “we” indicates a lack of commitment and unwillingness to take responsibility

39. Examples
Example of truthfulness: I woke up and went to school. I met some friends and we went to class together. At noon we all left.
Example of lack of commitment: I woke up. We all met and went to class. We left when the lunch bell rang.

40. Nouns
A change in noun use signifies a change in the reality of the suspect

41. Examples
Example of the norm: I loved my baby. I did not mean to hurt my baby, but I drowned her.
Example of a deviation: I loved my baby. I did not mean to hurt my baby, she went under the water and something kept her down.

42. Verbs
It is normal to use the first person, singular past tense to recall past events
Change in the tense of the verb signals possible deception

43. Examples
Example of the norm: I saw the shooting, I was so scared that I ran as fast as I could.
Example of a deviation: I saw the shooting. I am so scared that I run away as fast as I can.

44. Verbs
Statements which contain verbs such as “tried” or “started” represent a weakened assertion of the facts

45. Examples Example of the norm: I screamed “no” over and over.
Example of a deviation: I tried to scream “no” over and over.

46. Adjectives
Use of “that” and “those” to refer to a person suggests distancing

47. Examples Example of the norm: I did not hurt David.
Example of a deviation: I did not hurt that child.

48. Field Statement Analysis
A shortened version of the statement analysis
Uses two rather than four components
Lack of conviction
Extraneous information

49. Lack of Conviction A truthful statement is given with conviction
Frequent “I don’t remember” or “I believe” or “kind of surprised” are suspect

50. Extraneous Information
A truthful person will provide events in a chronological order
A truthful statement contains three parts; prior to the event, the event, and afterwards
They should contain roughly the same amount of information