Responding to a False Confession Expert in Your Case

Apr 09, 2024

Oftentimes the defense will present a "false confession expert” to testify that the investigator obtained a coerced and/or false confession. We have published a number of articles describing the type of statements...

Going Directly from an Interview Into an Interrogation

Jul 01, 2002

In the Reid Technique a clear distinction is made between interviewing and interrogation. The interview is non-accusatory, question and answer process that is designed to elicit information. An interrogation is accusatory in...

Conducting An Exit Interview

Jun 01, 2002

When an employee gives his two week notice to leave a company, the typical response centers around how to find a replacement for that person. What is often overlooked is that the...

Considerations With Respect to the Use of Evidence During an Interrogation

May 01, 2002

Considerations with Respect to the Use of Evidence During an Investigation

The Reid Technique represents a structured investigative approach to solve cases involving little or no evidence. The first step...

Evaluating the Truthfulness of a Reported Sexual Assault

Apr 01, 2002

Wisconsin recently introduced legislation that would prohibit a sexual assault victim from being asked to take a polygraph examination. Many states have already passed such a law. Clearly doubting the veracity of...

The Computerized Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA)

Mar 01, 2002

Throughout history man has tried to identify a single, unique physiological responses that would only be present when a person lied. In the 1970's a phenomenon known as a vocal micro tremor...

The Role of Motivation in the Interpretation of a Subject's Behavior

Feb 01, 2002

In psychology, a person's motivation generally relates to the strength of their desire to accomplish a specific goal, which is also referred to as their drive. On the other hand, the concept...

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...

Screening New Employees: Part II

Dec 01, 2001

The importance of a face to face interview with a job applicant to evaluate their recent past behavior was emphasized in the last web tip. One reason employers are reluctant to ask...

Screening New Employees: Part I

Nov 01, 2001

Screening New Employees: Part I

In light of the tragic events of September 11th, there is a heightened awareness to properly screen new employees. The terrorists' attack on the WTC...

Evaluating Omissions within a Suspect's Statement

Oct 01, 2001

An earlier web tip discussed the evaluation of inconsistencies within a suspect's statements. Inconsistencies represent factual changes in an account whereas omissions represent expected information not included within a response...

The Polygraph Technique Part II: Value During an Investigation

Sep 01, 2001

Each year in the United States hundreds of thousands of polygraph examinations are administered. The primary value of the polygraph technique is to eliminate innocent suspects early during an investigation. This greatly...

The Polygraph Technique, Part I: Theory

Aug 01, 2001

The polygraph instrument, erroneously called a 'lie detector', is nothing more than a monitoring device to record different physiological systems. The first polygraph was developed in 1908 by a British Doctor to...

Interrogations of Children

Jul 01, 2001

National statistics would readily support the claim that, in the last decade, children are increasingly involved in more serious crimes. It no longer shocks the average listener to learn that a 12-year-old...

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...

Evaluating Inconsistencies Within an Account

May 01, 2001

It is a common trial strategy for an attorney to attack inconsistencies within testimony offered by a victim, witness, or an investigator. And yet most victims, witnesses and investigators tell the truth...

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...