Interrogation

It’s not what you’ve seen on TV. 

That’s a common phrase uttered by many law enforcement professionals and instructors. Interrogation remains one of the most iconic functions of a police career. Most cinephiles have watched scenes of bright lights shining in a suspects’ faces as broad-shouldered officers stare them down from the other side of a cold, barren room. However, interrogation—it’s not what you’ve seen on TV. 

Rather, Department of Criminal Justice Training instructors state, interrogation is much more conversational. It’s an art. It’s meticulous. It requires preparation and practice to move toward one singular goal—the truth.

What Interrogation Is and Isn’t

Because of the conversational nature of both interrogation and interview, it’s easy to confuse the two. However, according to former FBI and, now, DOCJT Investigations Instructor Larry Savill, there is a difference. 

“You only interrogate when you have indicators, when (a suspect) indicates signs of deception,” said DOCJT Investigations Instructor Larry Savill. “You may do an interview and never do an interrogation. But you’re not going to do an interrogation without doing an interview first.” (Photo by Jim Robertson)

“People interview every day while just gathering information (from witnesses, potential victims and suspects all),” he said. “Interrogation comes in when you’re trained in a law enforcement capacity to determine guilt or innocence, to determine the truth. You only interrogate when you have indicators, when that person (a suspect) indicates signs of deception…You may do an interview and never do an interrogation. But you’re not going to do an interrogation without doing an interview first.”

Preparation Makes Perfect

Prepare, prepare and prepare some more, said Savill regarding each case.

“(Work) begins before you ever sit down with the suspect,” added David Goldey, DOCJT Basic Training branch manager and former Kentucky State Police trooper. “Gather as much information as you can. Know the elements of the crime and what you are trying to prove. Do some checks and run background. (Find out) what kind of person you’re interviewing. Have they ever been arrested? Do they have a record? Have they been convicted of a crime? Whom do they hang out with? Who are their acquaintances? And, who are their family members?”

However, such preparation is not always possible. Officers should do as much as they can based on the situation. Savill noted that much basic information could be obtained quickly through an officer’s computer in their cruiser.

Setting the Scene

Just as preparation is important, so is the location of the interrogation, which should be conducted in a controlled setting.

“You want to have the room set up to your advantage,” explained Savill. “Some rooms are better than others. Typically, you don’t want a clock in there. You want to be able to position yourself so the (subject) is on camera. You want to be able to see their body mannerisms and clearly hear them. The interrogator wants to be able to go back and see the person from head to toes … If you’re going to interrogate someone outside of the police department, you really need to strategize and think about how you’re going to accomplish that. You need to eliminate distractions. A restaurant parking lot with people coming and going is probably not going to be a good idea.”

Both law enforcement professionals agreed that interrogations, when possible, shouldn’t be conducted in a suspect’s home or turf where they have too many familiar surroundings. Regardless of location, best practice dictates officers should always have a partner present, not only for safety but also to observe things the one conducting the interrogation might miss.

Building Rapport and Gaining Trust

The old saying goes that one can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. The same can be said of interrogation, said Savill noting the importance of rapport-building even when dealing with hardened criminals, and that this is where interrogation and interview go hand in hand. Be respectful of everyone.

“All cops are different, and all people are different,” he said. “There are people who have past experiences with law enforcement that, in their view, hasn’t been positive. The next officer who comes along will probably have to deal with some of that preconceived notion. However, if you treat people with respect, hopefully, they will realize that you’re a little different. That’s where the rapport-building comes in.”

DOCJT Investigations Instructor Jim Root, a former Lexington Police Officer and crimes against children investigator, said that a skilled interrogator is one who engages in conversation and doesn’t copy movie clichés by being up in the subject’s face.

“No matter who that person is or what they have done, they were somebody’s little boy or little girl at some point,” said Root, explaining how he can treat even society’s worst with respect. “That spark of humanity, that spark of individual dignity is still there. So I interact with that spark of a little child no matter who they are.” 

Stemming the Tide

Topics broached during interrogation can bring up intense feelings of anger or guilt from the subject. Sometimes there are no emotions at all. Nevertheless, how does an officer handle someone who becomes emotional during interrogation? According to Goldey, let them run with it.

“Sometimes you may find it’s not genuine,” he continued. “If you see someone crying without tears, chances are they are trying to throw you off. But you, as an officer, have to maintain professionalism. Don’t be aloof. You’re involved. You can show concern…It’s a give and take.

“I’ve had to cry with people, and I’ve had to pray with people…It’s almost like a dance,” Root added.

Interrogators can empathize with the suspect and acknowledge their emotions. Via an active-listening technique, emotion labeling, interrogators can ask if the individual is upset, angry or frustrated. The nice thing about this technique, Savill said, is that the subject will tell the investigator if they interpret the feeling incorrectly.

“But the fact that you’re trying to understand their feelings builds rapport,” he explained. “It’s human nature. If you don’t deal with a person’s emotions first, you’re never going to get to the logic, which is where an officer needs to get to investigate a crime.”

Savill said there are several techniques investigators can use to show a subject they are listening, two of those being nodding as the individuals speak and going back and summarizing the information they have given. Additionally, by summarizing, the officer has the opportunity to make sure the information they are taking down is correct.

Collecting Cues 

Many interrogation techniques are taught across law enforcement. Goldey, who was trained in Kinesics, says he likes the style because it focuses on reading body language. 

According to David Goldey, DOCJT Basic Training branch manager, work begins before an officer ever sits down with a suspect. “Know the elements of the crime and what you are trying to prove. (Find out) what kind of person you’re interviewing,” he said. (Photo by Jim Robertson)

“People tend to say things, and their body language is inconsistent with what they are saying. You start picking up on those subtle hints,” he explained. “Of course, you have to establish a baseline of normal behavior (often during the interview) when asking normal everyday questions.”

As the topic turns toward the crime, Goldey said the subject will often display discomfort by movements of the eyes, face, shoulders, arms and legs. They might also change the way they are sitting or how they are moving.

Parts of the body further from the brain become increasingly harder to control during stress, noted Savill. Thus, facial expressions are easier to manage than arms and hands, and arms and hands are easier to control than legs and feet.

During his law enforcement career, Savill said that by the time he reached interrogation and was nearly certain of the suspect’s guilt, he was most focused on signals that the individual was about to push past their denials and tell the truth. Examples of these cues include dropping their chin to their chest, slumping in their chair, sighing, talking to themselves or even crying.

“At that point the stress is building up, and they know if they confess whatever they don’t want to say the stress will go away,” explained Savill. “Now an innocent person giving these indicators might be because of a deep dark secret they don’t want anyone to know, such as being molested as a child…that’s why it’s so important to say an interrogation is to determine the truth.”

Pathway to Pitfalls

Many pitfalls can occur during interrogations and, according to Savill, one of the biggest is thinking that interrogation is to prove someone guilty and simultaneously ignoring indicators that say otherwise.

“You can’t think you know somebody because the last 30 (suspects) were that way,” he said. “Sometimes that’s warranted, but the best officers are open-minded. They give everyone a fair chance, and they let that person’s actions, words and deeds dictate what they have to do as a law enforcement officer.”

Another pitfall is firing question after question and not allowing the subject to talk.

“You’re far better off to ask the question, and let them answer completely—just sit back and listen,” advised Goldey. “You want more than a yes or no. Ask open-ended questions. They’ll fill in the blanks and, if they’re guilty, most likely they’ll trip themselves up or talk right into an admission…They’ll start telling you something and forget when you ask them the same question a few minutes later. They will forget how they answered it because it was a lie. People can remember the truth, it’s simple. But to tell a lie and maintain it throughout is difficult to do.”

More than Cased Closed

Officers should also be able to admit that not every interrogation will end the way they want them to.

“If someone says they have a 100% confession rate, I’m calling (them out) because they are lying to you,” said Root. “People fail. You’re going to fail on some interrogations. People are going to beat you and convince you they were right, and then you’re going to find out they were wrong. It happens. Sometimes you win, but sometimes you don’t.” 

And once those admissions and confessions are obtained, they must be backed up.

“You have to support the (confession),” said Goldey. “I’ve never arrested a person I wasn’t convinced committed a crime…if you do that, resign and go home. You’re not doing the world a favor (by closing the case). You’re making us all look bad. Moreover, I don’t care if it happens in California, you’re making us look bad in Kentucky. It doesn’t matter, no one wants to put an innocent person in jail. 

“During an investigation, you’ll have good and bad evidence, things that support your case and things that shoot it down. You have to include it all. Maybe that’s the very thing that shows my guy didn’t commit the crime and, maybe, someone else did. That’s when it gets hard, and you go out there and start earning your money and start to find the unknown. Remember, it’s all about one thing—the truth.”