Transcript Interviewing and Interrogation for Criminal Justice

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
Touch
Source/
Encoder
Hear
Taste
Channels
Smell
See
Taste
Message
And
Feedback
Hear
Touch
Receiver/
Decoder
Channels
See
Smell
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
 Socialconsultive space
 5 to 10 feet
 Public space
 10 feet and
beyond
20
18
16
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10
8
6
4
2
0
0 to 1.5
Feet
1.5 to 4
Feet
5 to 10
Feet
10 Feet &
Beyond