CHAPTER V

BASIC IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Introduction

The business of the police is people. While police rely people to report and help
solve crimes, every aspect of police work is concerned with the problems of people. The
job of the criminal investigator is no exception. People and the information they supply
help accomplish investigative tasks; collecting information is the key investigative task
of police work. Roughly 90 percent investigator's activity involves gathering, sorting,
compiling, and evaluating information. The investigator cannot function without
information, and information cannot be obtained without help from the people. In short,
people are the most valuable resource in any criminal investigation.

In every criminal investigation process, interviewing and interrogation are

the most important means to obtain needed information about a crime.

The successful interviewer/interrogator must fully understand the techniques of

interviewing and interrogation and have the ability to evaluate the psychological reasons
why people are willing or reluctant to impart information.

Objectives of Interview

a. Interviews are conducted in criminal cases for the purpose of gathering information
from people who have or may have knowledge needed in the investigation.
b. The information may come from a victim or from a person who has no other
relationship to the criminal activity other than being where he or she was.

Objectives of Interrogation

a. Interviewing is the process of obtaining information from people who possess

knowledge about a particular offense, as part of the process of investigation.
b. Interrogation is designed to match acquired information to a particular suspect to
secure a confession.
c. There are four commonly recognized objectives to the interrogation process.
1. To obtain valuable facts.
2. To eliminate the innocent.
3. To identify the guilty.
4. To obtain a confession.

Qualifications of Interviewers/Interrogators

a. Knowledgeable in the art and science of criminal investigation and know how to use
psychology salesmanship, and dramatics.
b. Must have a flexible personality and must be able to convey empathy, sympathy,
anger fear and joy at various times, as needed, but must always truly remain objective.

c. Open minded, receptive to all information regardless of its nature

Preparation for the Interview or Interrogation

Before the start of interview or interrogation, It is very important that the interviewer or
interrogator must become familiar with the facts of the case under investigation and
the victim.

Witness. If the interview is to be conducted with a witness other than the victim, the
interviewer should find out as much about the witness as possible before conducting the
interview including motivations, perceptions and barriers that might exist.

Offense. It is necessary that the investigator know specifically what crime or crimes
were allegedly committed.

Victim. If the victim is a person, the investigator should learn as much as possible about
his or her background, the nature of the injury or loss, attitudes toward the investigation,
and any other useful information, such as the existence of insurance if property crime
case.

Interrogator must evaluate himself or herself and the conduct of the interrogation and
must begin to evaluate the suspect.

Suspect. The investigation should reveal as much personal background information on

the suspect as can be obtained.

Witnesses: Motivations, Perceptions and Potential Barriers to Effective Interviewing

a. There are many types of witnesses, and each has different motivations and
perceptions that influence his or her responses during an interview.

b. There is no way to categorize all personalities, attitudes and other character traits.

Nevertheless there some basic groupings that can be mentioned.

1. Some witnesses may be honest and cooperative and desire to impart information in
their possession to the investigator.
2. Some witnesses may desire not to give any information in an interview regardless of
what they may know.
3. Some witnesses may be reluctant or suspicious of the motives of the interviewer until
such time as a rapport can be established and the investigator can assure the witness
of his or her good intentions.
c. Other barriers which must be overcome in order to successfully interview someone
who has knowledge of the circumstances under which a crime was committed.
1. Language barriers.
2. A potential witness who may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
3. evaluate information provided by juveniles, consideration needs to be given not only
to chronological age but also to the level of schooling.
4. Interviewing an older person may also present a unique set of challenges.
5. Vision. Changes in vision that are related to aging vary widely from person to person.
6. Hearing. When interviewing someone with a hearing loss investigator should gain the
person's full attention, be at the right distance and speak clearly.

d. Competency of a Witness
1. Competency describes a witness's personal qualifications to testify in court.
2. Among the factors an investigator must evaluate in determining the competency of a
witness are age, level of intelligence, mental state, relationship to individuals involved in
the case, and background characteristics that might preclude the testimony of the
witness from being heard in court.
3. Relationships among individuals involved in a case may also affect a witness's
competency.
4. Background characteristics also may preclude a witness's testimony from being
accepted in court.

e. Credibility
1. Credibility is distinguished from competency in that the latter is based on the
assumption that a witness is qualified and will be permitted to testify.
2. Credibility relates to that quality of a witness that renders his or her testimony worthy
of belief.

Reliability of Eyewitness Identification

a. Information provided by eyewitnesses to a criminal event is relied heavily by both the

police and courts in the investigative and adjudication stages of our system of justice,
yet research indicates that eyewitness testimony may be unreliable.

b. Human perception and memory are selective and constructive functions, not exact
copiers of the event perceived constructive in that gaps will be filled to produce a logical
and complete sequence of events.

c. Experts distinguish a number of factors that limit a person's ability to give a complete
account of events or to identify people accurately. The following are among those
factors.
1. The significance or insignificance of the event.
2. The length of the period of observation.
3. Lack of ideal conditions.
4. Psychological factors internal to the witness.
5. The physical condition of the witness.
6. Expectancy.

Time, Place, and Setting of the Interview

a. Police officers conduct interviews in a number of situations. The most common is the
on-the-scene interview.

b. The physical circumstances under which the interview takes place can be critical to
the value of the information obtained.

c. Although convenience of the witness is important to a successful interview, the

interviewer need not relinquish the psychological advantage in selecting the time and
place of the interview.

d. Privacy is of the utmost importance in conducting interviews.

e. The physical and emotional states of the witnesses are important in conducting or in
determining whether to conduct an interview.

Time, Place, and Setting of the Interrogation

a. Unlike the interview, which may take place in any number of different locations and at
various times which may or may not be advantageous of the investigator interrogation is
a controlled process, controlled by the interrogator.
1. The most critical factor in controlling the interrogation is to ensure privacy.
2. In addition, privacy may be used as a psychological tool: the suspect may feel
more willing to unload the burden of guilt in front of only one person.

b. The traditional interrogation room should be sparsely furnished, usually with only two
chairs.

c. The two-way mirror, although still a useful tool for allowing others to observe the
interrogation, is widely known and may cause some subjects to refuse to cooperate in
the interrogation.

Interviewing: Processes and Techniques

a. Regardless of the time, place, or setting of the interview, or ultimately the type of
witness or victim interview, there exists some standardization in technique.

1. An interview has a beginning, a middle its main segment and an end).

b. The cognitive interview technique was developed in the hope of improving the
completeness and accuracy of eyewitness accounts while avoiding some of the legal
pitfalls that surround the use of hypnosis.
1. The first step is to ask the witness to reconstruct the general circumstances
surrounding the incident.
 2. Second the investigator asks the witness to report everything remembered
about the incident and all surrounding circumstances.
3. Step three is to have the witness recall the events in a different order.
4. The fourth technique is to have the witness change perspectives.

Pre-interrogation Legal Requirements

a. The legal requirements pertaining to interrogations became of critical concern

during the 1960s, and, as a result, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark
decision that has dramatically affected the conditions under which interrogations take
place.

b. Miranda vs. Arizona -The Supreme Court, in a five to four decision, spelled out the
requirements and procedures to be followed by officers when conducting an in-custody
interrogation of a suspect.

1. The right to remain silent,

2. The right to be told that anything said can and will be used in court.
3. The right to consult with an attorney prior to answering any questions and the right to
have an attorney present during interrogation.
4. The right to counsel. If the suspect cannot afford an attorney, the court will appoint
one.

c. Suspect's Response: Waiver and Alternatives

1. It is common practice for the officer to ask the suspect if he or she understands the
rights as they have been explained. If the answer is yes, then the officer may ask if the
subject wishes to talk with the officer. At this point, the alternatives open to the suspect
are four:
1.d. The suspect may choose to remain silent.
1.2. The suspect may request counsel.
1.3. The suspect may waive his or her rights and agree to talk with police without the
benefit of counsel.
1.4. The suspect may indicate a desire not to talk with the investigators.

d. Why People Confess?

It has been estimated that 80 percent of all people will confess to a crime. There are two
basic categories of people who will confess to a crime.
1. First, there are those guilty parties who psychologically need to "get it off their
chest."
2. The second category comprises those who are not guilty but who act under
some urge to confess.
Beginning the Interrogation
a. Establish rapport with the person to be questioned.
b. Compose and Ask Question: General Principles
1. Questions should not be complex.
2. Questions should be short, direct and confined to one topic.
c. Recognizing and Coping with Deception
1. Verbal Signals
2. Nonverbal Signals: Body Language
d. Statement Analysis
The investigator should carefully review exact transcript of the suspect's statement
analyze the information.
Interrogation Techniques And Approaches
a. Identical techniques do not work for all interrogations. Approaches and questions
differ with the type of suspect being questioned.
1. The logical approach is based on common sense and sound reasoning.
2. The emotional approach appeals to the suspect's sense of honor, morals,
righteousness, fair play, justice, family pride, religion, decency and restitution.
3. A sympathetic approach that gives the suspect a way out of a predicament can often
be successful and because the suspect is offered the opportunity to save face,
confessions are sometimes forthcoming.
4. When a suspect's guilt is uncertain, the interrogator should begin with an indirect
approach, assuming that the interrogator already possesses all necessary facts.
5. The"Mutt-and-Jeff," or good-guy/ bad-guy, approach to interrogation works in some
cases.
6. Playing one person against the other sometimes works when there are at least two
suspects, both of whom swear they are telling the truth during separate interrogations.
Documenting the Interview
a. The majority of routine cases involving interviews, handwritten notes made by the
investigator during and immediately following the interview generally serve as sufficient
documentation.
b. Note taking during the interview raises two primary concerns for the interviewer.
1. First, it may occasionally be distracting or suspicious to a witness; witnesses may be
reluctant to give information knowing that it is being documented.
2. Second, the interviewer should avoid becoming preoccupied with taking notes, for it
creates the appearance of inattentiveness.
c. The best form of documentation is sound recording or a sound and visual recording of
the interview.
Documenting the interrogation
a. Documenting an interrogation consists of three main phases: note taking, recording,
and obtaining written statements. These phases geared to accomplishing two basic
functions.
1. To retain information for the benefit of the interrogator and the continued
investigation.
2. To secure a written statement or confession from the accused for later use as
evidence in court.
b. The three most widely accepted method of keeping notes during an interrogation are
mental notes, written notes, and notes taken by a third party.
c. Police use of audio-video technology to document interrogations became wide spread
in the 1990s.
Admissibility of Confession and Admission
Judicial Admissions. An admission, verbal or written, made by the party in the course
of the proceedings in the same case, does not require proof. The admission may be
contradicted only by showing that it was made through palpable mistake or that no such
admission was made.
a. Prior to 1936, the only test for the validity and admission of a confession or admission
was its voluntariness.
b. The Free-And-Voluntary Rule. The first notable incidence of Supreme Court
Intervention into interrogation practices came about in Brown v. Mississippi. In this 1936
case, the SC held that under no circumstances could a confession be considered freely
and voluntarily given when it was obtained as a result of a physical brutality and
violence inflicted by law enforcement officials on the accused.
c. The Delay-in-Arraignment Rule. In 1943 the SC delivered another decision
concerning the admissibility of confessions.