1. NSLA Telephone Duty Counsel Training Program
Module 5:
Protecting the Right to Silence
-- Police Interview Techniques --

2. Q: What triggers a police interrogation?
A: Detention or arrest for any serious offence.
Generally speaking, where there will be no police bail or the form of release will be higher than an Appearance Notice.
ie: If the caller is going to the police station, he/she should expect to be interviewed.
Every caller should be prepared for police questioning which will surely follow the provision of 10(b) advice.

3. Prepare the Caller for Questioning:
Explain:
The right to silence
Why the caller should exercise the right to silence
How to assert the right to silence
How to avoid being tricked or manipulated by police into giving up the right to silence
The Right to Silence is explained in the previous Module. For more information, consult the 2018 revised Telephone Duty Counsel Manual – “Taking a Duty Counsel Call” – ‘Providing Advice to the Caller’.

4. Officer Interview Techniques: Accusatory Model
Most officers are trained in the “Reid Technique” for conducting interviews
assumes guilt
confrontational approach
accusatory questions to obtain admissions of guilt
Highly effective in obtaining “confessions”
Highly criticized for producing false confessions

5. The Reid Technique Characterized by 9 steps in the interview:
The positive confrontation;
Theme development;
Handling denials;
Overcoming objections, procuring and retaining the accused’s attention;
Handling the accused’s passive mood;
Presenting an alternate question;
Detailing the offence;
Elements of oral and written statements.

6. The Reid Technique (cont’d)
The Reid Technique is a form of brainwashing designed to convince the accused that:
he/she is caught;
the police have overwhelming evidence of guilt; and
there is no way to persuade the interrogator (or anyone else in the justice system) that the accused didn’t do the crime.

7. Police Tactics Employed in Accusatory Interviews:
R. v. Chapple, 2012 ABPC 229 (CanLII) – Details some of the techniques police are trained to employ in an accusatory interview:
Dissuade the accused from remaining silent.
When the accused seeks to exercise their right to remain silent, tell the accused that’s what all lawyers say and they are not in your situation.

8. Police Tactics Employed in Accusatory Interviews (cont’d):
Suggest scenarios that fit the police theory and interrupt the accused when he/she disagrees.
Engage in long monologues to control the direction of the interview and prevent the accused from thinking about not talking to police.
Continue the interview for lengthy periods to exhaust and confuse the accused.
Point out inconsistencies and challenge memory.

9. Police Tactics Employed in Accusatory Interviews (cont’d):
Continue to question the accused no matter how many times an accused says he/she wants to remain silent.
Keep talking as long as it takes to get answers.
Build a rapport through lengthy discussions of personal matters.
Minimize culpability late in the interview by suggesting that what happened is not that serious.

10. Police Tactics Employed in Accusatory Interviews (cont’d):
Offer explanations for the accused’s action which indicate he/she is “not a monster”.
Blame the victim.
Play on emotions by discussing family, show photos.
Once lower culpability is admitted, attempt to increase it to a higher level.
Have the accused write a letter of apology.

11. Officer Interview Techniques: Less Accusatory Models
The PEACE model from the U.K.
Less accusatory model for questioning accused:
Preparation and planning
Engage and explain
Account
Closure
Evaluation

12. Officer Interview Techniques: The PEACE Model (cont’d)
The focus is on falsifying hypotheses rather than proving hunches.
The purpose of the interview is to lock down stories and then at a later stage ask the interviewee to explain the differences in the evidence and their account.
The interview gives the subject ample opportunity to develop a complex story – research shows it is easier to disprove a complex lie.

13. Officer Interview Techniques: Phased Interview Approach
Taken from “The Art of an Effective Interview
Why non-accusatory is the new normal”:
The Phased Interview Approach is a new model developed by the RCMP
Touted as a “hybrid approach” of non-accusatory and accusatory based interviewing
It’s all about:
getting the detainee talking (phase 1)
letting the detainee say what they have to say
then slowly dismantling the story (phase 2)
by focusing on provable lies

14. Phased Interview Approach (cont’d)
What’s changed? Example: the suspect’s vehicle is caught on video
Accusatory Approach:
“I absolutely know you committed this crime”
“there is no point denying it”
“we have your vehicle on video”
“now why did you do this?
Phased Interview Approach
“tell me where you were last night”
don’t reveal there is video unless the suspect lies
once caught in a lie, present the video
ask “well, can you explain this?”

15. Phased Interview Approach (cont’d)
RCMP officers force-wide now being taught:
not to shut down the suspect’s denial -- let the suspect talk
gather information
“tell me where you were last night”
take the explanation the suspect wants to give
then challenge it with inconsistencies
and the strategic use of evidence
“well, can you explain this (piece of evidence)?”

16. Which Interview Approach will be used?
Interviewing is a very dynamic thing
Sometimes the police have lots of evidence – sometimes they don’t
Some suspects willingly engage – others don’t
There is no one-size fits all approach to interviewing
An interview may start out in a less accusatory way but if it isn’t working, a good interviewer, will adapt to another approach (accusatory)

17. Why is this important? You need to make the caller understand:
The police are well-trained in how to conduct and control an interview.
The police may use different styles of approach to the interview -- some are overtly hostile, others seemingly friendly -- but all have the same goal:
to get the caller to give up the right to silence
to incriminate him/herself and others.
Everything the police do at this early stage of the investigation is to get the caller to speak to them.

18. How does the caller avoid incriminating him/herself and others?
The only way the caller can protect him/herself (and others) is to say nothing
Assert the right to silence immediately
“I’m using my right to silence”
Then say nothing (silence means just that)
A caller who cannot remain absolutely silent may re-assert the right to silence in response to questions (and say nothing else):
“I don’t want to talk to you”
“My lawyer told me not to say anything right now and that’s what I’m going to do”
For more tips, refer to the revised 2018 Telephone Duty Counsel Manual and Quick Reference Guide.