Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

variation for different types of suspects. While all agencies underscored the
general caution that no single interrogation technique works with every suspect,
and indeed that every suspect is different, they provide little guidance on how
to adjust one’s interrogation techniques for suspects of different ages, cultures,
ethnicities, and criminal history, or for crimes of greater seriousness or cases for
which the interrogator has stronger evidence. The only confession factor that most
agencies seemed to focus on is length of the interrogation. Consistent with Leo’s
empirical study, discussed above, the FBI training literature and the instructors at
the FBI Academy noted that the length of interrogation was a determinative factor
in obtaining a confession or incriminating information from the suspect.
Similarly, both FLETC and the FBI take account of the seriousness of the
offense and the strength of the evidence against the suspect in their training, if
indirectly. As noted, these two factors appear to be statistically significant in
predicting the likelihood of a confession. Like the Reid Technique upon which
they draw so heavily, FBI and FLETC training make use of theme development
based on rationalization, projection, and minimization. These tactics, in turn,
center on manipulating the suspects’ perception of the seriousness of the crime
they have committed. In addition, FBI and FLETC rely heavily on presentation
of the evidence to convince the suspect that denial is futile and there is no other
option but to confess. Consequently, the stronger the evidence, the more effective
this FBI and FLETC interrogation step will be. These modifications to the Reid
Technique notwithstanding, the agencies do not, for the most part, offer specific
techniques that the interrogator should adjust if the crime is more or less serious,
or the evidence stronger or weaker; they give few, if any, explicit prescriptions on
how to use these factors to elicit a confession in different situations.
As noted, those officers and agents who do receive some interrogation
training learn tactics that closely track those advocated in most of the literature.
The emphasis in all programs is on investigating the case thoroughly prior to
interrogation, projecting an air of confidence and fairness, and building some
sort of rapport with the suspect. However, practice diverges from the literature
in two seminal respects: interrogator qualifications and, in the case of the FBI
and FLETC, the importance of confronting the suspect with the evidence against
him.
Although the literature recommends that only highly skilled, motivated,
educated, and specialized individuals be chosen as interrogators, the reality is
that, for the most part, interrogations are conducted by law enforcement personnel
of widely divergent educations and experience levels. Our research uncovered
no U.S. law enforcement agencies or departments that have a dedicated cadre of
interrogators to use in their counterterrorism investigations. Interrogators in U.S.
law enforcement agencies and departments are not required to have any specialized
training or education beyond that required to fulfill the general requirements of
their respective training courses. In some of the federal agencies, interrogations
are conducted by whichever team of agents happens to be investigating the
case, regardless of experience or expertise. In police departments it appears that
interrogations are conducted by detectives, who are by definition more experienced,
227