NCJ Number
214245
Date Published
2006
Length
26 pages
Annotation
In analyzing the ethical issues involved in police interviewing, this chapter identifies the major factors that raise ethical concerns in interviewing procedures, clarifies the ethical values that must be balanced in interviewing suspects, and proposes criteria for evaluating the legitimacy of interviewing methods.
Abstract
Ethical pressures on police in developing and implementing interviewing procedures stem partially from the responsibility of police to bring to justice and protect the public from those who have harmed individuals and society. Another ethical responsibility for police is to protect the legal rights of a suspect while ensuring that the evidence obtained from interviews is valid and reliable. These somewhat conflicting ethical responsibilities in police interviews require balancing suspects' rights and victims' rights. The chapter focuses on how the police in Quebec (Canada) have tried to achieve this balance. The Quebec police distinguish between "interrogations" and "interviews." An "interview" obtains information from a victim, witness, or a person suspected of a crime based more on intuition than credible evidence. Gaining a confession is not the goal of an interview, and the person interviewed is not under arrest or in detention. To guarantee the resumption of innocence, a suspect can only be interrogated after he/she has been detained or arrested based on reasonable grounds to believe the suspect is connected to a crime. This distinction between an interview and an interrogation helps police to avoid pressuring individuals against whom there is no independent incriminating evidence. Interrogations, on the other hand, may have the goal of obtaining a confession. In accordance with the ethical principle of maintaining a suspect's dignity, interrogations should never use physical or psychological pain as a means of forcing a confession, nor should the threat of torture be used. 25 references