Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

While few U.S. jurisdictions require that interrogations be videotaped, the
law enforcement entities that use the practice report that it does not appear to
reduce the effectiveness of interrogations. In fact, videotaping should benefit
both the practice and outcome of interrogations by providing a record for
the courts and allowing supervisors to review and if necessary correct the
practices of their staffs.
The effectiveness of standard interrogation techniques has never been validated
by empirical research. Moreover, techniques designed to obtain confessions
to crimes may have only limited relevance to preventive investigations
of terrorist-related activities. The authors recommend further research addressing
both issues, and also suggest that the United States consider adopting
the practice of providing intensive training to a select group of professionals
who would then conduct all interrogations.
Introduction
This paper has three primary purposes. First, it reviews the literature available
on the topic of interrogation to offer an organized and cohesive survey of the
available knowledge on the topic. Second, it seeks to present an overview of how
several domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies handle interrogations, both
in training and practice. Finally, the paper attempts to frame questions for further
study and to discern some potential lessons to be learned from law enforcement
for current and future terrorism-related situations in which interrogations might
be a relevant component.
This paper, like the project that sponsored it, does not attempt to offer novel
approaches to custodial interrogation, or to present groundbreaking psychological
insights into this investigative tool. The scope of the paper is further limited by the
subject matter it covers. It is decidedly not a general study on all possible aspects
and issues of police interviewing; instead, it focuses on situations that conform
generally to Inbau, Reid, Buckley, and Jayne’s definition of interrogation: “the
accusatory questioning of a suspect involving active persuasion that occurs in a
controlled environment when an investigator is reasonably certain of a suspect’s
guilt, for the purpose of learning the truth.” 109 Thus, interviews of witnesses
and victims are outside the purview of this project; the paper deals only with
interrogations of suspects who are in custody or otherwise in an environment
controlled by the interrogators. Similarly, although there is a vast body of law
relevant to custodial interrogations, analysis of the relevant legal precedents and
rules is beyond the scope of this project. Finally, even though Inbau et al., as well
as many other authors, suggest that the goal of an interrogation may be something
109
Fred Inbau et al., Criminal Interrogations and Confessions, 4 th ed. (Sudbury, MA: Jones and
Bartlett Publishers, 2004), 5–6.
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