Do You Invite People to Lie to You?

Apr 01, 2005

No one wants people to lie to them. Yet, I have encountered numerous parents, teachers and investigators who regularly invite deceptive answers from people they question. I am certain they do not...

Developing an Interview Strategy

Mar 01, 2005

Some interviews are free-flowing and spontaneous. Often, these interviews are conducted in an uncontrolled environment such as a street corner, an employee's office or over the telephone. Because the person...

Interviewing Elderly Subjects

Jul 01, 2004

Interviewing techniques presented in textbooks or during seminars generally assume that the person being interviewed is an emotionally healthy and mature individual with a normal IQ. Twenty-five years ago, when...

Investigating Possible Fabricated Claims

May 01, 2004

A recent case involving a University of Wisconsin student who falsely claimed that she was abducted highlights some important characteristics of these investigations. This particular case quickly achieved national attention...

The Presence of a Third Person in the Interview Room

Mar 01, 2004

Ideally, an interview of a suspect, victim or witness should be conducted in a private setting. The most important element of privacy is communicating one on one with the person being...

Maintaining Objectivity During an Interview

Nov 01, 2003

An interview is designed not only to collect and gather information but to assess the credibility of the person offering that information. In some instances the investigator will have clear...

Laughter and the Detection of Deception

Oct 01, 2003

Recently my wife and I attended her high school reunion. While such reunions are marketed as a great time and an opportunity to get re-acquainted, in truth they are very anxiety...

Background Investigations Conducted Over the Telephone: Part II

Feb 01, 2003

Phrasing Interview Questions

In the January web tip suggestions were offered for initiating a telephone interview. At the outset of a telephone interview, the investigator's goals are to (1) elicit a...

Handling The Angry Suspect

Dec 01, 2002

Every investigator has encountered a subject who exhibits symptoms of anger. Of all possible emotions, anger presents the greatest impairment of an investigator's ability to detect deception and persuade a suspect...

The Significance of a Suspect who Accepts Personal Responsibility for an Investigation

Oct 01, 2002

During our seminars we teach that suspects who make admissions against self-interest during an interview are often innocent of the crime. An exception to this rule is the suspect whose admission, in...

Don't Overlook The Person Who Reported The Crime

Jan 01, 2002

A guideline we teach during our seminars is that the first person interviewed during an investigation should be the individual who reported the crime. The primary reason for this is because that...

Interviewing vs. Interrogation

Jun 01, 2001

A concept we teach in our basic course is, "If you're going to interview, interview. If you're going to interrogate, interrogate." There are two important parts of this lesson. The first is...

Mirroring and Its Values During Interviews and Interrogations

Apr 01, 2001

What is Mirroring?

Recently I was talking to one of my sons about a possible location to spend our spring vacation. My left hand was in my pocket and...

Selecting the Proper Issue in a Child Physical Abuse Investigation

Mar 01, 2001

The nature of most crimes involve a central criminal behavior such as stealing money, starting a fire, selling drugs or having sexual contact with another person. Under these circumstances, the focus of...

Question Formulation Guidelines: Part II

Feb 01, 2001

This web tip offers a continuation of the January tip. The emphasis of this information is that how a question is asked often dictates the ease at which a deceptive subject can...

Question Formulation Guidelines: Part I

Jan 01, 2001

Asking questions is one of the first language skills a child develops. However, almost all of our question asking skills are developed under the assumption that the person answering our question will...

Miranda, Article 31 and Constitutional Advisements

Dec 01, 2000

During training seminars frequently the issue comes up as to the best time to advise a suspect of his constitutional rights. There are both legal and psychological considerations in answering this question...

Creating A Temporary Interviewing Room

Nov 01, 2000

In an ideal world, an interview or interrogation would always be conducted in a room specifically designed for that purpose. Most businesses, however, do not have a room set aside for interviewing...

Behavior Provoking Questions: The Punishment Question

Oct 01, 2000

The Behavior Analysis Interview is a structured interview, developed by John E. Reid and Associates, designed to elicit behavior symptoms indicative of truthfulness or deception. The core of the interview consists of...

The Use of Follow-up Questions to Elicit Admissions

Jul 01, 2000

An earlier web tip offered guidelines to interpret a subject's verbal behavior (Sept. 1999). In addition to assessing the truthfulness of a response, verbal behavior also provides insight for asking follow-up questions...