NCJ Number
200651
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 51 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2003 Pages: 42,44,45
Editor(s)
Bruce Cameron
Date Published
May 2003
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Certified Forensic Interviewer (CFI) program offered by the Center for Interviewer Standards and Assessment (CISA).
Abstract
Interviewing a criminal suspect is becoming increasingly difficult as criminal suspects bring litigation or judges determine that confessions may not be used in court. Officers who conduct interviews with criminal suspects must be well-trained and professional in order to perform well under this increased scrutiny. The Center for Interviewer Standards and Assessment (CISA), founded in early 2002, believes that interviewers should have consistent standards and professionalism. As such, CISA offers a Certified Forensic Interviewer (CIS) program, in which officers are provided with the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct professional and legally sound interviews with criminal suspects. Top law enforcement officials and private sector executives were recruited from around the country to form CISA’s Advisory Committee. The CFI program offers standardized professional and ethical interviewing techniques, complete with lessons about the legal issues involved with interviewing suspects. Proponents of the CIS program note that there are too many ways an interview or interrogation can go wrong. The goal of CFI is to prepare law enforcement professionals with a set of standards and a level of professionalism for investigative interviewing. Contact information is provided for CISA, and the article notes that the first CIS examinations were given in January 2003 at over 100 sites around the country.