Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

ecording of the statement’s being read to the suspect, with the suspect’s being
given an opportunity to refute anything in the written account. 607
A 1993 study, conducted before many of the statutes previously mentioned
were adopted, found that only 16% of police agencies in the United States overall,
and one-third in jurisdictions with populations over 50,000, videotaped interviews,
interrogations, and confessions, and that the most common circumstance in which
a videotape was made was following the confession. 608 “During this process, the
investigator would recap the interrogation in the presence of the suspect and
continue with the formal confession being recorded.” 609 This study reported
that 82% of respondents said that the number of defense claims of improper
interrogation techniques remained the same or decreased once videotaping
of confessions began. 610 At the same time, 60% of respondents “reported no
significant difference between a suspect’s willingness to tell the truth whether or
not the conversation was videotaped.” 611 Inbau et al. argue, however, that these
results are meaningless because the study did not include data on whether the
agencies videotaped the entire interrogation or only the confession that resulted
after a successful interrogation conducted in a private setting. 612
Anecdotal evidence suggests that, since the 1993 study, many police agencies
around the country have adopted videotaping procedures, either because it is
required by local ordinances or through voluntary adoption programs. 613 Fort
Lauderdale, Miami, Denver, Tulsa, San Diego, Kankakee County, and DuPage
County are among the many localities that have begun videotaping interrogations. 614
Most of these agencies seem to report positive experiences with the procedure. 615
Indeed, a 2004 study of 238 police and sheriff’s departments that voluntarily
videotaped interrogations found that “[v]irtually every officer with whom [the
authors of the report on the study] spoke, having given custodial recordings a try,
was enthusiastically in favor of the practice.” 616 Noted benefits included reduced
defense motions to suppress statements, more guilty pleas, better evidence for
use at trial, increased public confidence, and use as an interrogation-technique
teaching tool for detectives. 617 In addition, the study found that recording did not
inhibit rapport-building and did not result in suspects’ refusing to cooperate or
607
See Australia’s Third Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
March 1987 – December 1995, Art. 14 Par. 816.
608
Inbau, see note 109, 393-395, and Report, 6, both citing W. Geller, Videotaping Interrogations
and Confessions, National Institute of Justice Research in Brief (March 1993).
609
Inbau, see note 109, p. 395.
610
Id., p. 394.
611
Id., citing W. Geller.
612
Id., p. 394.
613
Coleman Interview; see also; “Police to Tape Suspects’ ‘Quizzings,’” South Florida Sun Sentinel,
1 February 2003, 1B; “Will the Senate seek justice,” Chicago Tribune, Editorial, 4 March 2003, 12.
614
“Will the Senate seek justice,” 12.
615
Id.
616
Thomas P. Sullivan, Police Experiences with Recording Custodial Interrogations, presented by
Northwestern School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, Summer 2004, 6, at http://www.law.
northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/documents/SullivanReport.pdf, accessed 4 March 2005.
617
Id., 6-12, p. 16
224