1. Interview & Interrogations
Developed by: Officer Vivian Lopez, SRO
Ironwood Ridge High School
Oro Valley Police Department

2. Fact:
The majority of cases are solved by obtaining confessions, not with forensic evidence (despite popular belief).

3. Types of Interviews Field Interviews
Consensual
Non-Consensual
Investigative Detentions (reasonable suspicion)
Custodial Interrogations (probable cause)
Reasonable suspicion: legal standard of proof in United States law that is less than probable cause, the legal standard for arrests and warrants, but more than an "inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch' "; it must be based on "specific and articulable facts", "taken together with rational inferences from those facts". Police may briefly detain a person if they have reasonable suspicion that the person has been, is, or is about to be engaged in criminal activity; such a detention is known as a Terry stop
probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest.

4. Bad Habits lead to bad interviews
Failure to interview
Authoritarian demeanor/too aggressive
Prejudice
Failure to investigate
Early Handcuffing/unnecessary handcuffing
Failure to control temper
Partial investigations
Failure to build rapport
Failure to properly document

5. Miranda Two Elements need to be present for Miranda to apply:
Custody (not free to leave)
Interrogation
Miranda does not apply to traffic stops or brief field interviews based on reasonable suspicion

6. Does Miranda Apply? Questioning at the police station
Questioning in a police vehicle
Questioning at the crime scene
Questioning at the suspect’s home

7. Interrogation vs. Interview
Interview: basically a conversation (“Tell me what happened. “
Interrogation: inherently involves Persuasion and/or Pressure.

8. Interrogation finds out the why
You really need to know your Criminal Law and the elements of a crime, because some crimes require intent.
Example: Burglary requires felonious intent, and the only way to get this kind of information is through an interrogation.

9. Types of Confessions Verbal Written Tape recorded (digital recorders)
Hard Confession
Soft Confession

10. Interviewer Questions
The interviewer should formulate questions aimed at discovering the following:
Was there premeditation?
Were actions deliberate?
Was there malicious aforethought?

11. Culpable Mental State Criminal Negligence Recklessly Knowingly
Intentionally
Criminal Negligence: failure to use reasonable care to avoid consequences that threaten or harm the safety of the public and that are the foreseeable outcome of acting in a particular manner.

12. The Interview Obtain Basic Information Obtain Descriptors Orientation
Narration
Cross-Examination
Resolution

13. Basic Information Full Name Alias/Nicknames/AKA’s Date of birth
Social Security Number
Driver’s License number
Address
Phone number(s) (cell, home, work)
Place of Employment

14. Descriptors Height Weight Eye Color Hair Color/ Bald Race Gender
Mustache/beard/Goat-T

15. Orientation Introduce self Handle administrative issues
Miranda (if necessary)
De-escalate stress, anger
Talk about neutral topics to assess subject
Explain interview process (“I need your side of the story”)

16. Narration Begin dealing with the substance of the case
Ask open- ended questions
Why are you here?
What happened?
Tell me about?
What happened next?

17. Cross-examination Direct Questions Yes/No questions (last resort)
Positive confrontation
Theme building
Supported confession
Questions that gain clarification
Paraphrase what they have told you

18. Resolution Wrap-up issues Explain next step of investigation
Thank the subject for speaking to you
Return to neutral topics
Arrest or Arrange for future contact

19. Tips Control Temper Be subjective (be human) Build Rapport
Be soft, minimize wrong doings
Gain trust
Be confident
Be convincing
Give examples/Tell parables
Don’t be intimidated

20. Last but not least Documentation- Concise and well written reports.
If its not in a report, it didn’t happen.