NCJ Number
203361
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 51 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 66-69
Date Published
November 2003
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the ways that a criminal investigator may obtain a quality interview.
Abstract
The quality of a criminal investigator’s interview is often the deciding factor in a successful prosecution. The rewards of a quality interview include promoting the victims’ and the public’s confidence in law enforcement, increasing the likelihood of guilty verdicts, and reducing court and criminal investigation costs. The four types of interviews include victim interviews, witness interviews, and interviews with suspects and children, and each of these types of interviews requires its own special interviewing techniques and strategies. Following a discussion of the guidelines to be followed for all interviews including making sure that all identifying information is obtained from an interviewee, the article suggests that victims should be interviewed before witnesses and witnesses before suspects. Victims have first-hand knowledge information of a crime, while witnesses are able to contribute secondary information concerning a crime. Interviews with suspects are usually only successful in revealing important information when an interviewee is surprised by a police interview. The most important guideline in conducting an interview is to memorialize it through audio/video recordings, written statements, and interviewer paraphrasing. Following a discussion of victim interviews as awkward interviews requiring a therapeutic-like approach, the article describes witness interviews as so common place in criminal investigations that they are often underestimated. Finally, the article discusses techniques to use with an uncooperative witness such as shielding the person’s identity, talking “off the record,” and offering gentle reassurance to the witness.