Investigator Tips
Current Investigator Tip
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...
Previous Tips
Factual Analysis
Nov 01, 2017
Factual analysis can be defined as estimating the probability of a suspect's guilt or innocence based on investigative findings. Each investigator uses factual analysis to narrow the scope of suspects - to...
The Fundamental Foundation of THE REID TECHNIQUE OF INTERROGATION®: Empathy and Understanding
Sep 01, 2017
The Reid Technique consists of a three-phase process beginning with Fact Analysis, followed by the Behavior Analysis Interview (which is a non-accusatory interview designed to develop investigative and behavioral information), followed by...
Cognitive Interviewing
Jul 01, 2017
Cognitive Interviewing
Cognitive interviewing is a memory retrieval procedure designed to enhance recall when interviewing a victim or witness. Unlike hypnosis, which involves placing the subject in an altered state of...
Using Open-ended Questions During the Investigative Interview (Part 2)
May 01, 2017
(See the March April 2017 Investigator Tip for Part 1)
Evaluating the Response to an Open Question
When relating an incident such as being the victim of a robbery or...
Using Open-ended Questions During the Investigative Interview (Part 1)
Mar 01, 2017
When evaluating an account, such as what happened to a victim, a suspect’s alibi, or what a witness saw or heard, the investigator should elicit this information by asking an initial open-ended...
Ten Do’s and Don’ts for Obtaining a Reliable Confession
Jan 01, 2017
Physical coercion, torture, duress, denial of rights, threats, and promises of leniency are the poison pills of legally admissible, reliable, and voluntary confessions. Obviously we should not engage in such behaviors or...
Positive Persuasion - Motivating the Subject to Tell the Truth
Nov 01, 2016
Positive persuasion consists of a variety of persuasive statements offered by the investigator to motivate, influence, and persuade the subject to want to tell the truth. The information developed in the...
When Co-Offenders are Being Interrogated Consider "Playing One Against the Other"
Sep 01, 2016
When two or more persons have collaborated in the commission of a criminal offense and are later apprehended for questioning, there is usually a nagging fear on the part of each participant...
Over 300 What's new page entries
Aug 01, 2016
p> Over the last 14 years we have posted over 300 entries on our "What's New" page at www.reid.com. For this July/August Investigator Tip we have listed many of them that you...
There is No Behavior Unique to Lying
May 01, 2016
People oftentimes associate specific behaviors with deception, such as lack of eye contact. But there are many reasons a person may not have eye contact with the individual whom they are speaking...
Interrogation Themes: Five Strategies for Selecting Interrogation Themes
Mar 01, 2016
Identifying the most effective arguments to present to a suspect during an interrogation will help you elicit the truth
A frequent question I'm asked by cops during my interviewing and interrogation...
Making a Murderer: THE REID TECHNIQUE® and Juvenile Interrogations
Jan 01, 2016
In the Netflix program, Making a Murderer, which examines the conviction of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey for the sexual assault and murder of Teresa Halbach, there is a reference made by...
Legal Cases Sorted by Category
Sep 01, 2015
On a regular basis over the last 10 years we have published on our website and through our quarterly newsletter legal updates of current cases which address relevant interview and interrogation issues...
The Reid Technique: A Position Paper
May 01, 2015
The Reid Technique: A Position Paper
Content
Core PrinciplesBest PracticesResponses to Criticisms The Courts’ View of False Confession ExpertsThe Courts’ View of the Reid TechniqueThe Best Way to Guard Against...Empathy Guides the Investigator to the Truth
Mar 01, 2015
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will...
Interrogation Tactics Involving a Written Report
Jan 01, 2015
The interrogation of a criminal suspect is designed to persuade a suspect, who is believed to be guilty of a crime, to tell the truth. To be effective, the investigator's persuasive arguments...
The Importance of Evaluating Consequences
Nov 01, 2014
During the course of an investigation, and especially at the interview stage, there are a number of questions the investigator would like to answer about the suspect and the crime he may...
Leaving The Room During an Interrogation
Sep 01, 2014
We see it all the time on television cop shows. The investigator is interrogating a suspect and the suspect offers a strong denial. The investigator gets out of his chair and says...
The Reid Behavior Analysis Interview
Jul 01, 2014
The Reid Behavior Analysis Interview
A recent article offered the following description of the Reid Behavior Analysis Interview, "The purpose of the interview is to provide a means by which investigators...
An Update on the Use of Deceptive Practices During Interrogation
May 01, 2014
An Update on the Use of Deceptive Practices During Interrogation
The landmark US Supreme Court decision addressing deceptive practices during an interrogation is Frazier v. Cupp (1969). In Frazier, the Court upheld...