Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

pre-interrogation interview and not its own, separate stage. However, because
the FBI places such emphasis on the use of BSA-like techniques (see discussion
below), it is worth briefly discussing the Reid approach.
In essence, BSA evaluates a suspect’s answers to interview questions not for
their substance but for the manner in which the answers are given. Part of the
purpose of BSA is to determine whether to move from the interview stage to the
interrogation stage. The Reid Technique offers several basic principles designed
to enable the investigator to conduct effective BSA:
1. Recognize that there are no unique behaviors associated
with truthfulness or deception.
2. Evaluate all three channels of communication
simultaneously.
3. Evaluate paralinguistic and nonverbal behaviors in the
context of the subject’s verbal message.
4. Evaluate the preponderance of behaviors occurring
throughout the interview.
5. Establish the subject’s normal behavioral patterns. 463
These basic principles are then combined with the following generalizations
about the correlation between truthfulness/deceptiveness and a suspect’s attitudes
when answering questions:
Truthful Suspect
Deceptive Suspect
Spontaneous
Sincere (“openly expresses
appropriate emotional states”)
Helpful (“will openly discuss
possible suspects and motives
and may speculate on how
the crime may have
been committed”)
Concerned (displays “a serious
manner and pays close attention
to the interviewer’s questions”)
Guarded
Insincere (“may come across
as phony”)
Unhelpful (“reluctant to talk about
possible suspects or people who
could be eliminated from suspicion
…may offer explanations…[or]
take the position that no
crime was committed”)
Unconcerned (“nonchalant and
downplay[s] the significance of
being a suspect...may engage
in levity or answer questions
inappropriately”)
Cooperative Uncooperative 464
463
Id., p. 125-127.
464
Id., p. 128-130.
184