Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

to discuss and exchange techniques, thereby giving everyone more appropriate
interrogation tools.
Finally, a note on interrogator training and qualifications. Although the
literature and training agencies agree that not everyone can be an effective
interrogator, the prevailing approach in practice is to train everyone, as opposed
to having a dedicated cadre of interrogators. Given the heterogeneous nature of
the group of people who become law enforcement agents, the few agencies that
offer any training do so at a basic and general level, catering to the lowest common
denominator. A different approach — employing a group of highly educated and
specially trained interrogators in a counterterrorism squad and entrusting them
with terrorism-related interrogations — would not be unprecedented in U.S. law
enforcement. Many police departments and federal law enforcement agencies
have highly trained and dedicated personnel whose sole, or primary, responsibility
is to act as hostage negotiators during a hostage crisis. Given the psychological
and behavioral complexity of interrogations in general, and the sensitivity of
terrorism-related interrogations in particular, we think it prudent to evaluate the
possibility of adopting such a model and insist on better trained and dedicated
interrogators.
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