Improving the Quality of the Police Interview: Can Training in the Use of Cognitive Techniques Help?

• NCJ Number: 157907
• Journal: Policing and Society Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: (1995) Pages: 53-68
• Author(s): A Memon; R Bull; M Smith
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

Previous research suggests the Cognitive Interview (CI) is an effective procedure for interviewing witnesses; much of the research, however, has used college students as interviewers and has provided little information about the quality of training.

Abstract

The current research project piloted a CI training procedure using 38 British police officers with varying levels of field experience. An armed robbery was staged and interviews were conducted with witnesses. Analysis results did not reveal any differences in witness performance with the CI, as compared to a control technique. Feedback from interviewers and a study of interview transcripts indicated that CI training, demonstrated to be successful in previous studies, had little impact on the interviewing style of experienced police officers in the current study and that CI techniques were not used appropriately. Implications of the results for police training in the CI technique are discussed. 28 references, 1 table, and 1 figure