Paper #1 – Building Rapport With Witnesses
Ashley M. Ulbrik
CRM 2702, Florida Institute of Technology
Throughout the history of interrogations and interviews, the techniques of building a rapport with the witnesses have improved greatly. Having a rapport with the interviewee is extremely important to ensure you are given an accurate and truthful recounting of criminal events or description of a suspect. There are some witnesses that willingly give such information and have no issues with being a part of an investigation, whereas there are also witnesses that are very reluctant to be involved in the investigation and are suspicious of the interviewer's motives, causing them to be more …show more content…
This small gesture can open the door to create a strong rapport throughout the investigation (Walsh & Bull, 2012). Also, when providing the interviewee with their rights, as needed, take an extra step to be sure they truly understand their rights. This can help encourage a more positive interaction during the interview (Walsh & Bull, 2012). Overall, you want to avoid witness intimidation and use animated facial responses like smiling and nodding when listening to the interviewee (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo & Taylor, 2012). The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group determined that for a successful interrogation, an officer identifies the interviewee's motivations and needs and allows them to feel a sense of control within the interrogation, allowing officers to likely obtain valuable intelligence (2016). The techniques used by an investigator can vary based on age, race, and gender, but a successful investigator tailors the interrogation to the specific suspect and not on a bias of their demographic. For instance, with female witnesses, instead of attempting to invoke emotions in a general technique, learn about the suspect. If she has children, attempt to invoke her maternal instincts in a way to encourage truthful responses. If a man being interrogated highly values the opinion of those around him, use that trait to gain more of his trust before …show more content…
An investigator has to concentrate on the interviewee or suspect and cannot devote too much of the time to taking notes and breaking eye contact and the personable feeling created through rapport-building. Audio and video playback can prevent the investigator from missing crucial information or changes in body language that may have been missed during the live session. Also, without electronic recording, the investigator relies solely on their memory and notes, which can be disputed more easily in court. Also, video and audio recording help enhance the jury's opinion of the investigator and treatment of the suspect. If an investigator offers drinks and breaks to the suspect, it shows a compassionate treatment of the suspect. When recording, it is best to record from the entire start to finish of all conversations with the suspect. For Anthony Caravella, a videotaped interrogation could have saved him from a false confession and 26 years spent in prison. Officers taped only his confession and not the negligent and abusive interrogation that led up to the forced confession (Pudlow, 2017). This case prompted Florida to try and push to require all interrogations to be recorded – not only to protect the interviewee from unacceptable treatment, but to also protect officers from being accused of coercing a suspect to confess through extreme
Ashley M. Ulbrik
CRM 2702, Florida Institute of Technology
Throughout the history of interrogations and interviews, the techniques of building a rapport with the witnesses have improved greatly. Having a rapport with the interviewee is extremely important to ensure you are given an accurate and truthful recounting of criminal events or description of a suspect. There are some witnesses that willingly give such information and have no issues with being a part of an investigation, whereas there are also witnesses that are very reluctant to be involved in the investigation and are suspicious of the interviewer's motives, causing them to be more …show more content…
This small gesture can open the door to create a strong rapport throughout the investigation (Walsh & Bull, 2012). Also, when providing the interviewee with their rights, as needed, take an extra step to be sure they truly understand their rights. This can help encourage a more positive interaction during the interview (Walsh & Bull, 2012). Overall, you want to avoid witness intimidation and use animated facial responses like smiling and nodding when listening to the interviewee (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo & Taylor, 2012). The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group determined that for a successful interrogation, an officer identifies the interviewee's motivations and needs and allows them to feel a sense of control within the interrogation, allowing officers to likely obtain valuable intelligence (2016). The techniques used by an investigator can vary based on age, race, and gender, but a successful investigator tailors the interrogation to the specific suspect and not on a bias of their demographic. For instance, with female witnesses, instead of attempting to invoke emotions in a general technique, learn about the suspect. If she has children, attempt to invoke her maternal instincts in a way to encourage truthful responses. If a man being interrogated highly values the opinion of those around him, use that trait to gain more of his trust before …show more content…
An investigator has to concentrate on the interviewee or suspect and cannot devote too much of the time to taking notes and breaking eye contact and the personable feeling created through rapport-building. Audio and video playback can prevent the investigator from missing crucial information or changes in body language that may have been missed during the live session. Also, without electronic recording, the investigator relies solely on their memory and notes, which can be disputed more easily in court. Also, video and audio recording help enhance the jury's opinion of the investigator and treatment of the suspect. If an investigator offers drinks and breaks to the suspect, it shows a compassionate treatment of the suspect. When recording, it is best to record from the entire start to finish of all conversations with the suspect. For Anthony Caravella, a videotaped interrogation could have saved him from a false confession and 26 years spent in prison. Officers taped only his confession and not the negligent and abusive interrogation that led up to the forced confession (Pudlow, 2017). This case prompted Florida to try and push to require all interrogations to be recorded – not only to protect the interviewee from unacceptable treatment, but to also protect officers from being accused of coercing a suspect to confess through extreme