NCJ Number
206653
Date Published
2004
Length
241 pages
Annotation
This text offers a guide to assist interrogators in attaining voluntary and legally acceptable confessions and admissions from criminal suspects.
Abstract
Chapter 1 introduces the text and explains the approach of the interrogation method presented herein, a unified system made up of a skeleton, or backbone, which can be used as an adaptable and useful technique for extracting information. Chapter 2 addresses the philosophical and legal underpinnings of interrogation. This chapter promotes the sentiment that all humans deserve fair treatment and compassion. Moreover, humans who are culpable will seek offers of rationalization in order to find some form of forgiveness pertaining to the crimes they have committed. Departing from the philosophical framework of interrogation, the author turns to how the sixth amendment influences interrogation and how to use interrogation techniques within the law. Chapter 3 describes the elements of the Polyphasic Flow Chart and the interrelationship between interviewing and interrogation. Elements developed during the interview will be necessary during the interrogation, thus the interview process builds the foundation of the interrogation. Chapter 4 reflects on how to handle difficult interviewees. Different personality characteristics are considered and a lengthy explanation of psychopaths is offered. Chapter 5 examines the formulation of interview questions as a critical element of the interrogation process, while chapter 6 explores how the self-fulfilling prophecy is a key element of interviewing and interrogating. Readers are encouraged to strengthen their active listening skills, intuition, and patience in order to harness the power of the prophecy. Chapter 7 considers types of deception detection and their relationship to interrogation, while chapter 8 discusses how to transition from an interview to an interrogation once the suspect seems culpable. Chapter 9 reviews the basic techniques and elements of interrogation, including a case study that presents the unified approach employed by the author. Chapter 10 explores interrogation tactics that take into consideration the face-to-face nature of the interrogation. Chapter 11 reviews elements of a variety of real confessions, including false confessions and confessions involving bank embezzlement, homicide, and theft. Chapter 12 deals with the weighty issue of sexually-related offenses and presents instructive case studies, while chapter 13 presents a bank theft investigation in which the Polyphasic Flow Chart was employed during interrogation. Figures, endnotes, bibliography, index