NCJ Number
85762
Date Published
1982
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This review of interview and interrogation techniques for arson investigators addresses personal qualities of the effective interviewer, persons who should be questioned in an arson case, and the interview format.
Abstract
Although the purpose of both interviews and interrogations is obtaining information, the interview is an informal procedure whereas the interrogation is formally questioning a person with information about a suspected crime. Arson investigators must interview people to accurately recreate the fire they are examining. An effective interviewer must be an extrovert and an actor, in addition to being calm, understanding, impartial, and quickthinking. Experience is also a primary qualification. At the time of the fire or incident, the investigator must plan the interviews by deciding who should be questioned, where, and what questions to ask. An investigator generally begins with fire personnel at the scene followed by security or police personnel and finally owners, occupants, witnesses, and other interested parties. The type and emotional condition of the witness determine whether the interview is held at the fire site or in another location. In an interrogation, however, the time and place of the questioning are chosen by the investigator. Questions to witnesses should stimulate conversation, and interviews may begin in an open-ended way by asking the witness to describe the fire. When information obtained in an interview indicates that the person may be a suspect, all questioning should stop until the individual has been advised of his or her rights. The paper contains eight references and three footnotes.