Interview and Interrogation

Annette LeBlanc

St. Martin Sheriff’s Office

Definitions:

• Interview

– Non-Accusatory meeting in which information is obtained

– Purpose: to gather information

– Subjects: witnesses, victims

• Interrogation

– Formal solicitation of information

– Purpose: obtain the information you believe this person has

– Subject: suspect

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

The Interview:

Structure of the interview

• Preparation: Facts and Location

• Introduction

• Rapport: often extension of the introduction

• Questions: open ended vs. closed

• Verification: Ensures mutual understanding

• Catch-all Questions (Positive: What have I forgotten to ask

(Aggressive: What have you not told me

• Departure: Leave open possibility for re-contact

• Critique : Only way to learn

Factors to consider:

Timing: Interview / Interrogation

Location: Interview / Interrogation

Communication is both verbal and non-verbal.

Are the words and actions giving the same signal?

Verbal Clues

Pitch

Volume

Rate

Actual words and phrases

Always get a base to gauge by

Five Stress Response States:

Anger

Depression

Bargaining

Denial

Acceptance/acknowledgement

Verbal

• Anger: – Focused: Most easily recognizable

• Interviewer/Department

• Victim

• Witness

– Covert: More subtle• Facts of the case will be attacked

• Intimidation (I have a degree in accounting)

• Make and issue out of an non-issue or minor details

Verbal

• Depression: – Anger and depression are closely related. One is

focused outward, depression is anger focused inward.

– Look for body language: closely resembles body language of confession:

• Body is slumped, drooping shoulders, chin in the chest, crying …

Verbal

• Bargaining:– Complaining for sympathy– Gray Statements

Verbal

• Denial: 90% of the subject’s deceptive behavior will present itself to the investigative interviewer in the form of denial. If anger , depression and bargaining fail- turn to denial.

– Memory Lapses

– Modifiers/Qualifier

– Guilt Phrases

– Vocabulary Shifting

– Specific Denials

– Denial Flag expressions

Verbal

Acceptance

- Buy out statements

- Fantasy-reality statements

- Punishment statements

Body Language

• Posture:– Leaning forward– Sitting Sideways

•Facial expression:–Expression of fear

–Anger

–Acknowledgement

•Gestures:–Head movement–Hand activity

•Eye movements:–Different for different cultures: what you’re looking for is a break in the “normal” baseline.

Review:

Verbal signs: Truthful person

- makes general sweeping denials, offers unqualified direct spontaneous answers

- exhibits a reasonable memory

- responds to questions rationally and in a distinct and clear tone

Non verbal signs: Truthful person

- sits upright but not rigid

- positions himself in front of the questioner and leans toward him/her when making a point

- appears relaxed and casual

Review:

Verbal signs: Deceptive Person:

- Offers very specific denials

- gives delayed, evasive or vague answers

- exhibits an unusually poor, selective or remarkable memory

-Qualifies answers or uses religion or oaths to support their statements

- Speaks in an irrational, mumbled or subdued manner using fragmented statements

Review:

Nonverbal Sings: Deceptive Person

- Slouched or leans backward (away from interviewer)

- very rigid and stiff

-Pulls their elbows in close to the body, arms folded and locked in front of them

-Exhibits rapid and erratic posture changes

The Interviewer

• A successful Interviewer has the ability to obtain information from all subjects, analyze the information and record it accurately.

• The interviewee should be allowed to tell his own story in his own words without Interruption. Experience has shown that in this narrative, the interviewee tells all that he or she knows in words of their own choosing. They are more inclined to furnish more accurate information than if they merely furnish answers to specific questions.

Advantages

• It gives the interviewee the opportunity to talk freely

• It places a certain amount of pressure on them to keep talking

• Their thinking is self-directed

• It aids their memory-more things come to mind

• It makes it easier for them to recall and relate events in the order in which they occurred

• It makes it easier to extract the important parts of the story

• It furnishes “ammunition” for direct questioning

THANKS AND

HAVE A GREAT DAY