Non-Accusatory Interview

Interviews must be conducted in order to get information or assist in investigating a child abuse case. Such interviews must be done in a sensitive and considerate manner.

Many of today’s interrogation models being utilized in police investigations have an impact on false confessions. The model that has been in the public eye recently is the social psychological process model of interrogation known as the “The Reid Technique.” There are two alternatives used by the police today to replace the Reid Technique, one is the PEACE Model and the other is Cognitive Interviewing. These methods are not interrogation techniques like Reid but interview processes.

Early surveys by the NCVS were felt that the information obtained in the interview of the victim may not be reliable. Interviewees can be vulnerable to several types of biases including memory errors, errors of deception, telescoping, and sampling errors.

The first interrogation we watched in class was that of a 20-year-old named Joshua Tuttle. Mr. Tuttle was being charged with attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He was messaging and supposed to be meeting up with a girl named Jesse who he thought was 13 or 14. Joshua was the focus of a sting operation and has been featured on the television program “To Catch a Predator”. When we picked up on the interrogation, Joshua was sitting across the table from the interrogator. Joshua’s chair was pushed up against the wall and in the corner of the room. This is good because it is supposed to make him uncomfortable. The table that sat between Joshua and the interrogator was cluttered with papers. This is not good because this gives the suspect something to look at besides the interrogator, which in turn can change the suspect’s body language and or answers.

A forensic interview is only conducted with a child of possible child abuse or neglect. This interview first begins with information that is provided to the interviewer by the victim themselves. This is a delict task and should only be conducted by a therapist trained with child

Victims of various crimes are usually from diverse backgrounds regarding their cultural beliefs, physical abilities, and disabilities as well language among other factors. Therefore, as an interviewer, one should consider all the factors to ensure that the interviewing process goes on smoothly. It is also the role of the interviewer to make sure that even though the factors are considered, there is the least bias in the process to ensure that the prosecution gets the facts right rather than based on the interviewer’s perception (Thakkar, Jaffe & Vander Linden, 2015). Cultural differences and physical disabilities are some of the most common hindrances of communication during

Charles Nordhoff noted, blacks “will tell you precisely what you want to hear.” Interviewers’ questions, though unconsciously, “constantly communicated with their subjects the kind of evidence they want, the length of answers and even the manner in which answers ought to be offered” (Davidson 181). The personal relationships also created an interesting dynamic during an interview. Interviewees often knew interviewers personally and said, “I don’t want to tell you nothin’ but what to please you” (Davidson 183).

The victim services professional I interviewed was Rene Carter, victim/witness assistant with the Cumberland County’s District Attorney’s Office. The criminal justice agent I interviewed was Detective M. Wooten, with the Fayetteville Police Department. Detective Wooten is a detective and has worked in different divisions of investigation to include property unit, person’s unit, robbery unit, and aggravated assault unit. Each person was asked the same question and the following are the answers to those questions:

A confession is one of the strongest forms of evidence that can be brought into a court of law. In the United States criminal justice system, prosecutors quickly and swiftly seek confessions as they are the most persuasive evidence to win cases. Interrogations are conducted by law enforcement officials in an effort to seek confessions and develop details about crimes.Communication is key to the art of interrogation. Detectives sometimes end up with false confessions from innocent suspects by using their expertise in psychological manipulation. One major technique of interrogation is known as the Reid Technique. The Reid method is a system of interviewing and interrogation that is widely used by police departments in the United States. The Reid Technique involves three components which include factual analysis, interviewing, and interrogation. Whether this verbal technique is effective or ineffective is a subjective and controversial matter. However, many people who oppose the Reid Technique would agree that this method can cause an innocent person to confess to wrong counts made against them. Is the Reid Technique the best solution? With concrete evidence, one can explore and come to an overall result of whether or not this questioning method has a major impact on the outcome of the confession, as well as searching for weaknesses in human nature and if these have any effect on the results of the interrogation and courtroom process.

The actual definition defined by john e. Reid is an accusatory process in which the investigator tells the suspect that there is no doubt as to his or her guilt. The interrogation is in the form of a monologue presented by the investigator rather than a question and answer format. Unlike most interrogation techniques The Reid technique is further broken into 9 steps of interview. These include direct positive confrontations, theme development, stopping details, overcoming objections, getting the suspect’s attention; the suspect quiets and listens, alternatives, bringing the suspect into the conversation, and the confession.

Summarize the “best practices” of interviewing as discussed in the Snook et al (2012) article and then discuss how the use (or lack of use) of best practices can impact the quality and validity of information gathered by police officers.

Researchers used previous data regarding the creation of false memories and confessions to hypothesize that with exceptionally suggestive investigative tactics, interviewers would be able to induce false memories of committing a crime within individuals. Researchers furthered this hypothesis to include comparisons between the two groups included in their experiment, crime committing (resulting in police contact) vs. traumatizing event. However, researchers did not disclose what specific differences they

In this case analysis it will discuss the purpose of interrogatory deception when conducting interviews, ways in which it is used, some of the current debates over the practice, and examples of theories to explain corruption and brutality. The number one priority that should be thought about prior to any form of interrogation & Interviewing is the suspect’s rights and privacy are to be respected.

Questioning is the act of forming an inquiry and interpersonal communication to gain information which assist in making decisions. There are two common types of questions that are mostly used in an interviewing scenario, that is; closed and open questions. Closed questions are restrictive and require short answers .For instance, “Yes/ No “answers. The amount of information gained is limited while, open questions begin with “What, Why/ who?”They allow patients the freedom to talk about what they wish and invite an argument, long answers are required for these types of questions. (Stein-Parbury, 2009).

When preparing for an interview, a great deal of thought and consideration needs to be completed before the interview even begins. The person conducting the interview needs to think about where the interview is going to take place, the time of which it will occur at, and what kind of technology will be used. They need to review the file and consider who is being interviewed, what the person has experienced, and how they may be affected. Interviewing someone is a crucial part of policing, and ultimately helps police solve crimes. When it is done properly, it can be very successful, but if it is not done properly, it could ultimately end an investigation. Therefore, an interview can either be successful or not, and here are some points displaying the success and improvements that can be done in interviews.