Hayley Cleary
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Public Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University
Key Findings
- Surveyed officers noted being trained in many different techniques ranging from benign interrogation strategies to psychologically coercive strategies.
- Information-gathering techniques were used more frequently and high-pressure tactics were less frequent in the range of techniques officers used.
- More than half of the surveyed officers indicated being trained in psychologically coercive techniques for both adults and juveniles.
- Ninety-one percent of officers noted receiving informal, “on-the-job” interrogation training.
- Officers specifically trained in the Reid technique indicated they were significantly more likely to use pre-interrogation or coercive techniques than officers not trained in Reid interrogation.
- Officers trained in specific interrogation strategies were more likely to employ those strategies in practice.
Description
In the article, “Police Training in Interviewing and Interrogation Methods: A Comparison of Techniques Used With Adult and Juvenile Suspects,” Cleary and her co-authors examine police procedures and techniques on the topic of interacting with adult and juvenile suspects. There is currently a gap in the literature around modern police interrogation techniques and even more so in understanding police practices when interviewing youth. The formal knowledge centers around the primary techniques of the Reid technique, Planning and Preparation, Engage and Explain, Account, Closure, Evaluation (or PEACE) model, and the Human Intelligent (HUMIT) interrogation, and other newer, skill or process-based techniques. To conduct their study, the researchers examined formal interrogation techniques and models as well as surveyed 340 diverse officers from across the United States to determine how police are trained to interrogate suspects and how that aligns with how officers actually interrogate suspects. The results showed that surveyed officers noted being trained in many different techniques ranging from benign interrogation strategies to psychologically coercive strategies. The data indicated that information-gathering techniques were used more frequently and high-pressure tactics were less frequent in the range of techniques officers used. More than half of the surveyed officers indicated being trained in psychologically coercive techniques for both adults and juveniles. Ninety-one percent of officers noted receiving informal, “on-the-job” interrogation training. Officers specifically trained in the Reid technique indicated they were significantly more likely to use pre-interrogation or coercive techniques than officers not trained in Reid interrogation. Finally, the authors noted that officers trained in specific interrogation strategies were more likely to employ those strategies in practice. In conclusion, the authors note the need for additional officer interrogation training with special emphasis on juvenile suspects, which would duly have the opportunity to reduce interrogation-related miscarriages of justice.