Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

6. Using the “size-up,” the investigator should then determine the
approach that will be most useful for this type of suspect. 452
Similarly, Vrij suggests that during the interview, the investigator must “avoid
guilt assumption and belief perseverance,” must be open-minded and flexible,
should establish rapport, and should provide little information about the case to
avoid making it easier for the suspect to lie or come up with explanations. 453
Types of Questions for the Interview
As a complement to the various interview techniques, it is helpful to consider
the types of questions that an investigator should ask. Most of the authorities
agree on this aspect, which is laid out most clearly by Dillon in his work on The
Practice of Questioning. He classifies several types of questions used during the
various stages of the interrogation. According to him, the questions should be
prepared beforehand and written down on paper (though no other author makes
this suggestion, as it would seem to inhibit flexibility). 454 The questions, according
to Dillon, should be asked in the following order, by type:
1. Opening questions – used at the start of the interview and
designed to “get the respondent talking,” these should be yes-no
questions that are easy to answer and are not about the crime;
2. Free narrative questions – the investigator names a topic
and asks the suspect to tell what he knows about it, allowing
the suspect to describe a topic in his own words while the
investigator listens without interrupting;
3. Direct questions – follows up on narrative questions by asking
about specific items while avoiding value-laden terms such as
“murder,” “rape,” etc. The investigator should order his questions
A) from the general to the specific, and B) from the known to
the unknown;
4. Cross-questioning – questions designed to check and verify
one answer against another, delving into problematic (i.e.,
contradictory or ambiguous) answers; the suspect is asked to
repeat his statements “by means of questions asked in different
ways and in no special order;”
5. Review questions – used to confirm previous answers, repeating
the information and asking ‘Is that correct’ and ‘What else’ 455
452
Id., p. 151-162.
453
Aldert Vrij, ‘“We Will Protect Your Wife and Child, but Only If You Confess’: Police
Interrogations in England and the Netherlands,” in Adversarial Versus Inquisitorial Justice:
Psychological Perspectives on Criminal Systems, Peter J. van Koppen and Steven D. Penrod, eds.
(New York: Plenum, 2003), 57-79.
454
J. T. Dillon, The Practice of Questioning (London: Routledge, 1990), 82.
455
Id. p. 85-91.
182