NCJ Number
144228
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1993) Pages: 325-352
Date Published
1993
Length
28 pages
Annotation
With the introduction of recording facilities in police interview rooms, techniques that police officers use when questioning suspects are being increasingly scrutinized; the current research looked at 600 audio and video tapes in three English police forces during 1989 and 1990 to assess the way in which suspect interviews were conducted.
Abstract
The research involved police forces in West Midlands and West Mercia and London's Metropolitan Police District. About 75 percent of the 600 interviews were conducted with police officers of constable rank. Most police officers could not be described as good interviewers. Even though they reported the use of high-level psychological concepts in interviews, their social skills were often limited. Much of the interview training offered to them had been pitched at an advanced level and focused on sophisticated approaches to questioning. In particular, detectives talked about body language, nonverbal indicators of deception, and lie signs. Police officer attitudes were conditioned by the knowledge that a confession provides a convenient shortcut to other proceedings. Many interviews were simple and straightforward exchanges, such that no special interrogatory skills were required. Other interviews were of a tentative and exploratory nature, with little evidence linking the suspect at that stage to the offense at issue. The most surprising result to emerge from the examination of tapes concerned the feebleness of many interviews. The image of police interviewers as professional, skilled, and forceful interrogators did not match the reality. More frequently, police officers were nervous, ill at ease, and lacking in confidence. Research findings suggest that greater efforts must be made to assauge public concern about police interview procedures. The issue of questionable or unprofessional conduct by police officers is discussed. 43 references, 71 footnotes, and 3 tables