Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

the suspect believe that the interrogator understands how the suspect feels about
things, which is exactly the goal of Reid’s theme development.
Pierce believes quite strongly that a good interrogator can sense deception.
There are so-called “body-language schools” that teach techniques that Pierce
finds effective. More importantly, however, is the ability simply to read people,
and he argues that in real-world situations it is easy to pick up obvious signals that
a suspect is lying if one has good people skills. At the same time, he believes it is
sometimes useful for an interrogator to use trickery and deceit, such as telling the
suspect that the authorities have evidence, phone records, witnesses, or statements
that do not really exist. While one must be careful in using this technique, Pierce
says that it is highly successful when appropriately used. Nonetheless, he reports
that he never lies about the consequences of confession and tries to avoid the
subject altogether, instead telling the suspect that he is just the fact-finder who
writes the story, and that what happens to the suspect is in the hands of the court.
Until the recent SJC decision, the Massachusetts State Police did not use
electronic recording of any kind. Pierce contends that if they had done so they
would have had easier, smoother, and more successful results in court (i.e.,
convictions). While noting that the presence of the recording devices does affect
the privacy of the interrogation, Pierce argues that the benefits outweigh the costs.
Like Coleman, he finds it imperative that the detective be able to explain each
technique used through the interrogation so that it does not appear overly coercive
to a court or jury. In addition, he believes that recording the interrogations would
aid in training; one of his chief complaints about the training he received is that
it involved too much sitting in the classroom listening to lectures and not enough
observation and role-playing.
Section 10. Interrogation Practices in Other Countries
Interrogation in Great Britain
General Background
Until the early 1990s, there was no national training on interrogation offered
to British police officers. 589 Though the first and most recognized interrogation
manual produced in Britain 590 was heavily influenced by the Reid Technique, it did
not meet with much enthusiasm and does not appear to have had much impact on
police training and practice. 591 According to Gudjonsson, the implicit rejection of
Reid-based approaches to interrogation in Britain might be due to a combination
of factors, including judicial decisions in cases involving oppressive police
interrogation, research into false confessions and psychological vulnerability, and
changes in police practice following the introduction of the Police and Criminal
Evidence Act of 1984 (PACE) and the Codes of Practice for police officers, which
589
Gudjonsson, see note 111, p. 38.
590
J. Walkley, Police Interrogation: A Handbook for Investigators (London: Police Review
Publication, 1987).
591
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 52.
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