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...

Having A Third Person in the Interview Room

Mar 05, 2013

Having A Third Person in the Interview Room

Privacy is considered the single most important psychological factor contributing to the success of an interview or interrogation. This is something we each...

Evaluating Admissions Against Self-Interest

Jan 15, 2013

It is not uncommon for suspects to make admissions against self-interest during an interview. They may acknowledge being in the area of the crime, having a motive to commit the crime, having...

The Feasibility of an Analytic Assessment to Identify False Confessions

Nov 01, 2012

The medical, psychiatric and therapy communities have a long history of using diagnostic "checklists" to evaluate the presence or absence of physiological or mental disease or degree of impairment. These analytic assessments...

Interview Before Interrogating

Sep 01, 2012

Throughout our seminars and textbooks The Reid Technique emphasizes the distinction between interviewing and interrogating, and the importance of conducting a non-accusatory interview before an accusatory interrogation. A recent legal decision reinforces...

Investigating Issues of Intent

Jul 01, 2012

Two recent news events have centered around a person's intentions. The first was the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. The second was a White house correspondent named Neil Munro who...

To Lie or Not to Lie: The Use of Deception During an Interrogation

May 01, 2012

If the agents involved in the recent Colombia incident are interrogated, should the investigators tell them they have evidence that they don't really have? It depends on a number of considerations.

The Importance of Context Within Behavior Symptom Analysis

Mar 01, 2012

Consider the following written note left for my son: "Ryan, call Mom's cell." If the note was written this year, he would dial her mobile phone number. However, if the note was...

Innocent Suspect’s Response to Interrogation

Jan 01, 2012

The process of interrogation is reserved for suspects whose guilt is reasonably certain. This assessment may be based on a combination of forensic or testimonial evidence implicating the suspect in the crime...

Word Games Deceptive Suspects Play

Nov 01, 2011

Properly socialized people do not enjoy lying. None of us invite the feelings of guilt, fear or anxiety associated with telling a lie. On the other hand, we also don't like to...

Good vs. Bad Liars

Sep 01, 2011

Earlier this year the nation was transfixed by the trial of Casey Anthony, a young woman accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee. During the course of the...

What Exactly is the Reid Technique of Interrogation?

Jul 01, 2011

Part One

Despite the availability of specific information in books, training manuals and on our web site about the Reid Technique of interrogation, it is routinely mis-characterized. The following description...

Interviewing Witnesses

May 01, 2011

A witness is anyone who possesses direct information pertinent to an investigation. Sometimes witnesses are forthcoming and fully cooperative, other times they are reluctant to get involved and occasionally they are deceitful...

The Danger of Threatening Inevitable Consequences During an Interrogation

Mar 01, 2011

A recent Frontline episode dealt with interrogation techniques and false confessions.1 The presented case involved the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Bosko from Norfolk, VA. The following is a synopsis of...

Research Review: The lie, the Bluff and False Confessions

Jan 01, 2011

One of the most controversial aspects of criminal interrogation involves the use of trickery and deceit. While Federal and State Supreme Courts routinely uphold confessions that were obtained from interrogations during which...

Investigating Attention- Motivated Fabricated Crimes

Nov 01, 2010

Every year there are a dozen or so incidents involving fabricated crimes that make national headlines because the motive behind the reported crime fascinates the general public. Recently a woman in...

Using Baseline Behaviors to Establish "Truthful" Responses.

Sep 01, 2010

During our training seminars, participants have asked about the value of identifying a suspect's truthful behavior by asking questions to which it is known that the suspect is telling the...

Documenting Field Confessions

Jul 01, 2010

Documenting Field Confessions[i]

Following a successful interrogation the investigator will convert the oral confession to a court admissible document. This document may be handwritten by the suspect, a...

Responding to Defense Experts' Characterization of Interrogation

May 01, 2010

In 1998 David Lykken wrote a book titled, "A Tremor in the Blood: The Uses and Abuses of the Polygraph Technique". In it, he advocated the use of his own "Guilty Knowledge...

Designing an Interview/Interrogation Room

Mar 01, 2010

I recently taught at a newly constructed police department. The architecture was beautiful featuring a massive open community room. The detective's work area was equally impressive with state of the art computer...

The Esteem-Motivated Offender

Jan 01, 2010

It is human nature to seek acclaim and recognition. Given the choice, most people would rather be well known and respected than an obscure outsider who is unimportant and ignored. Typically, this...