Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

Step 5 – Procurement and Retention of a Suspect’s Attention
If the interrogator shows no signs of being convinced by the objections, the
authors suggest the only strategy left for the guilty suspect who does not want to
tell the truth is “to psychologically withdraw from the interrogation and ignore
the investigator’s theme;” according to the authors, innocent suspects will not
withdraw. 493 In order to procure and retain the withdrawn suspect’s attention, the
interrogator should move his chair closer to the suspect, establish and maintain
eye contact, use visual aids, and use hypothetical questions since “we are all
conditioned to respond to questions.” 494
Step 6 – Handling the Suspect’s Passive Mood
After the interrogator has gained the subject’s attention in Step 5, the guilty
suspect now becomes “reticent and quiet,” often adopting a defiant posture, but
at the same time becoming more willing to listen. 495 The interrogator should
now start to distill the possible reasons for the crime presented in the theme and
concentrate on the core of the selected theme. 496 This approach is supplemented
by urging and advising the suspect to tell the truth, moving closer, and continuing
to display understanding and sympathy. 497
Step 7 – Presenting an Alternative Question
The interrogator now “offers the guilty suspect the opportunity to start
telling the truth by making a single admission.” 498 The Reid Technique suggests
that it is unrealistic “to expect a suspect to suddenly break down and tell the
complete truth about his crime; [instead] it is often necessary to allow the
suspect to initially make a first admission of guilt and then attempt to develop
the full confession.” 499 The alternative question “presents to the suspect a choice
between two explanations” for the crime, one much more attractive and morally
acceptable. 500 At the same time, the alternative question is “loaded”; by accepting
the alternative explanation, the suspect also acknowledges having committed the
crime — the single admission that now leads to confession. 501 Some criticize
this step as forcing the suspect to incriminate himself, but the Reid proponents
point out that “the suspect always has a third choice, which is to say that neither
alternative is true.” 502 An example of an appropriate alternative question is, “Did
you plan this out months in advance, or did it pretty much happen on the spur of
493
Id., p. 338.
494
Id., p. 338-345.
495
Id., p. 345.
496
Id., p. 346.
497
Id., p. 347-348.
498
Id., p. 353.
499
John E. Reid and Associates, Selecting the Proper Alternative Questions, Monthly Investigator
Tips, September 2004, athttp://www.reid.com/educational_info/r_tips.htmlserial=109398430514122
9&print=[print], accessed 13 March 2005.
500
Inbau, see note 109, p. 353.
501
Id.
502
John E. Reid and Associates, Defending the Reid Technique of Interrogation, at http://www.reid.
com/educational_info/critictechniquedefend.html, accessed 13 March 2005.
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