Investigator Tips
False Confession Issues
What Defense Attorneys and False Confession “Experts” Do Not Want You to Know About the Reid Technique
Feb 23, 2026
What Defense Attorneys and False Confession “Experts” Do Not Want You To Know About the Reid Technique.
When referencing the issue of false confessions, defense attorneys and false confession "experts" often state...
A Description of the Reid Technique of Investigative Interviewing and Interrogation
Nov 02, 2025
Over the years we have published numerous Investigator Tips and What's New entries on our website detailing the procedures, processes and safeguards of the Reid Technique for both the Investigative Interview process...
A Catalog of Criticisms of the Reid Technique and Our Responses
Nov 02, 2025
Over the years we have published numerous Investigator Tips and What's New entries on our website detailing the various criticisms of the Reid Technique and our responses. In this Investigator Tip we...
The Fallacy of Defense Attorney Claims That The Reid Technique Causes False Confessions
Oct 24, 2025
The Fallacy of Defense Attorney Claims that the Reid Technique Causes False Confessions
In confession cases, the defense attorney and their false confession “expert” will oftentimes claim that the Reid Technique causes...
The Investigator's Workbook: Principles of Practice - How to Conduct Proper Interviews and Interrogations
Oct 13, 2025
Principles of Practice: How to Conduct Proper Investigative Interviews and Interrogations*
Since 1947, John E. Reid and Associates has been conducting investigative interviews and, when appropriate, interrogations.
Since the mid-1970s, we have...
The Investigator's Notebook
Aug 31, 2025
The Investigator’s Notebook consists of over 190 Investigator Tips organized in a sequence that reflects the various stages of an investigation. Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues.
Best Practices That Investigators Should Follow To Prevent False Confessions
Aug 07, 2025
Before we discuss the “best practices,” it is relevant to consider the primary causes of false confessions.
Over 60 years ago, in the first edition of their book, Criminal Interrogation and Confessions...
Why do the courts reject the premise from false confession experts that lying to a suspect about evidence causes false confessions?
May 29, 2025
Social Psychologists, Defense Attorneys, Academicians, and Law Enforcement interrogation critics claim that
Misrepresenting evidence to a subject during an interrogation will cause innocent people to confess
Social psychologists often claim that police...
Correcting Misinformation About the Reid Technique
May 06, 2025
Critics of the Reid Technique make several false and erroneous statements (in italics below) when describing the Reid process. In the following pages, we will list their criticisms and our responses.
The...Investigator Tips About the Reid Technique and False Confession Experts Sorted by Topics
Jan 18, 2025
Over the years we have posted numerous Investigator Tips that discuss the essential elements of the Reid Technique and the claims made by false confession "experts" about the Reid process. In this...
Why the Reid Technique is so Successful
Nov 16, 2024
One of the primary reasons that the Reid Technique is so successful in helping investigators resolve criminal investigations and to secure an acknowledgment of guilt from the offender is that the process...
Preparing to Testify in Confession Cases Parts One and Two
Oct 30, 2024
Preparing to Testify in Confession Cases (Parts One and Two)
In Part One of this Investigator Tip we will highlight the content of an article written by Attorney Deja Vishny *...
Richard Leo's Boilerplate Statement Regarding Police Interrogation Practices
Jun 26, 2024
The following is the "boilerplate" position taken from various statements, publications and testimony of Richard Leo regarding police interrogation practices.
The Social Psychology of Police Interrogation
Police interrogation is a...
“I did it”…. is that a valid statement of guilt?
May 29, 2024
The purpose of an interrogation is to learn the truth. In most instances, this consists of the guilty suspect telling the investigator what he did regarding the commission of the crime under...
How do you respond to false confession experts presented by the defense? (updated Nov '23)
Oct 20, 2023
Over the years we have received a number of emails that have stated essentially the following:
I am an investigator with the (agency name). A few years ago a coworker and myself...
Clarifying Misrepresentations About Interrogation Techniques (updated May 2023)
May 19, 2023
Over the years social psychologists, defenses attorneys, and some academicians have
offered a number of criticisms of current law enforcement interrogation practices, and, in
particular, the Reid Technique. Some of...
Over 50 Free Reid Video Presentations
Jan 24, 2022
Below you will find over 30 helpful video tips on our YouTube page now organized in 6 Playlists:
1. Who are We and What is The Reid Technique
About the...False Confessions: The Issues to be Considered
Jun 01, 2021
False Confessions – The Issues to be Considered
In this document we discuss the primary causes of and contributing factors to false confessions, and the Best Practices to follow to...
25 Reid Video Tips
Jan 11, 2021
September October 2020 Investigator Tip
The September/October 2020 Investigator Tip provides you with links to 25 brief video presentations from our YouTube channel - The Reid Technique Tips, that...
What Questions Should be Asked to Determine the Voluntariness and Validity of a Subject’s Confession?
Aug 01, 2019
While there are numerous issues to consider in the process of evaluating the voluntariness and validity of a subject’s confession, the following questions may be helpful in making such an assessment.
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