NCJ Number
209535
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 53 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2005 Pages: 46-50
Date Published
March 2005
Length
5 pages
Annotation
With pressure being placed on law enforcement to record in-custody interviews, this article presents the results of a survey of law enforcement agencies on their thoughts and viewpoints in the recording of custodial interrogations.
Abstract
The stakes are high for both law enforcement and suspects when determining exactly what happened or occurred when a suspect was brought into a police station for questioning, especially when no recording was made of the interview/interrogation. Adopted by a substantial number of law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, the recording of custodial interrogations has been a long time coming. It has proven to be a wise and effective move for law enforcement personnel. To gauge the nationwide viewpoint on the issue, an informal survey was conducted of more than 260 law enforcement departments identified across 41 States to have recorded full custodial interrogations of suspects in felony investigations from the Miranda warnings on. Overall, there was unanimous support for the practice of recording. This article summarizes the results of the informal survey with the benefits of recording, the objections to recordings, and the costs and savings of recording. It is recommended that all law enforcement agencies consider requiring in-custody interviews in major felony investigations to be recorded from Miranda warnings on.