A Denver Colorado Criminal Lawyer Warns – NEVER Agree To Speak To The Police – But If You Do…
By H. Michael Steinberg Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – Email the Author at [email protected]
A Denver Colorado Criminal Lawyer Warns – NEVER Agree To Speak To The Police – But If You Do… – be aware that the training and experience of a good police investigator can overwhelm the accused. This article is intended to give you some understanding of what to expect when a Colorado or ANY law enforcement officer gets you in his or her sights.
Many Police Investigators Use The Reid Technique Or Variations – In Suspect Interviewing
Here is a summary of the “Reid interrogation technique” It is broken down into the following nine steps:
1. Confrontation: The detective presents real or fake evidence against the suspect.
2. Theme development: The interrogator then comes up with a story about why the suspect did the crime.
3. Stopping denials: If the suspect makes any attempt to deny his guilt, the detective quickly interrupts him.
4. Overcoming objections: If a suspect uses logic to deny guilt, the interrogator refutes his denial.
5. Getting the suspect’s attention: The detective pretends to be the suspect’s ally.
6. The suspect loses resolve: The suspect indicates his surrender through body language.
7. Alternatives: The interrogator provides the suspect with contrasting possible motives for the crime.
8. Bringing the suspect into the conversation: The detective urges the suspect to talk about the crime.
9. The confession: The suspect writes out or films his confession.
The REID TECHNIQUE OF INTERVIEWING and INTERROGATION.. “…uses a Behavior Symptom Analysis based on the verbal and nonverbal behavioral characteristics that distinguish a truthful person from one who is withholding or fabricating relevant information.”
Essentially the technique is designed to obtain an admission of guilt. To understand a police interrogation of a suspect – you need to understand the basic difference between an interview of a witness and an interrogation of a target or a suspect.
The Witness Interview
The witness interview is intended to develop investigative information: – essentially the subject’s version of events which included, of course, the details of the event – such as the who, what , when, where, why and how questions.
The Interrogation of A Target Or Suspect – Characteristics of an Interrogation
This will start as a non-accusatory interview prior to the actual “interrogation.’ The police officer is trying to get as much information from the suspect as her or she can – and to develop rapport with the subject.
The police officer will give you room – if you are the target – to tell your story while he or she is figuring out their tactical approach – that is – a theme to break into the actual – and inevitable “interrogation.”
The Importance of Non-Verbal Communication
All communication can be broken down from verbal to non-verbal communication. Understanding the basics of communication – is essential to understanding what the final interrogation may look like.
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Nonverbal behavior can be more reliable than verbal.
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Nonverbal behavior is responsible for more than half of total communication.
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Nonverbal behavior will either support and enhance the credibility of an answer, or suggest discomfort and possible deception, indicating the need for follow-up questions.
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Behavior “symptoms” can be more revealing as anxiety increases. – [The goal then? Increase anxiety!]
Behavior Symptom Analysis – (They REALLY Believe This Stuff)
To understand the techniques being used on you – the balance of this article addresses some basic beliefs of law enforcement about interrogation and the results of interrogation.
A police interrogator will:
1. Establish the subject’s normal behavioral pattern and then look for changes from same.
2. Evaluate nonverbal behavior for TIMING and CONSISTENCY.
3. Evaluate the overall behavioral pattern – using behavioral clusters – not single observations.
GESTURES
There are three general categories of Gestures – Grooming; Protective; and, Supportive. For the most part, gestures refer to when a person’s hand comes in contact with themselves.
Truthful subjects usually do not use gestures.
Compare – Deceptive subjects oftentimes do engage in the use of gestures when engage in the use of gestures when they answer key questions they answer key questions.
Verbal Cues – Psychological Principles of Verbal Behavior:
A deceptive subject, if given a choice, will usually choose to reduce anxiety within their response. Therefore, they oftentimes will try to lie by omission or evasion;
The truthful person seems to invite anxiety.
Use of Pronouns
Missing “I”: When a subject relates a story in the first person (“I”), and then drops the “I” from a sentence, it suggests that the person is trying to disassociate himself from that particular time period or event.
The use of Possessive Pronouns such as “My, our, your, his, hers, their” reveal an attachment. A suspect may change the pronoun or drop it completely when opting not to show possession or admit association.
This Person is TRUTHFUL
A Truthful person will be:
Composed, concerned, cooperative, direct, spontaneous, sincere, and open.
He will have:
Smooth posture changes, open gestures, good eye to eye contact, good frontal alignment. He will lean forward, have open palms and those palms will be upright.
His answers will be reasonable, he will have a smooth tone of voice & speech, he will use complete & clearanswers, realistic words, he will volunteer information and there will be no long delays. His responses will be direct.
This Person is DECEPTIVE
A Deceptive person will be:
Overly anxious, defensive, unconcerned, evasive, overly polite, guarded
His Responses will be:
Erratic and rapid, h will use frequent gestures, have a “barriered” posture, will be rigid and immobile, he will be slouched and overly casual, he will not have “frontal alignment,” he will have an insincere tone of voice, put his hand over mouth or his eyes
He will:
Answer too early, give irrational answers, have mental blocks, unjust anger, he will avoids realistic words and make specific denials such as “I don’t know” – “I can’t recall.” He will give one word answers, qualified answers, refers to God or religion
Some Typical Questions Intended To Trick You
What FOLLOWS are questions right out of the police interrogator “play book.” Again, these are taken from the REID Technique – a system used by many law enforcement agencies around the world. There reprint here is intended to let you know what to expect when the door closes and you are left alone with the police interrogator(s).
Questions About Punishment
“Steve, what do you think should happen to the person who (issue)?” or “What do you think should happen to the kind of person that would (issue)?” [The Theory: Truthful subjects usually offer an appropriately strong punishment.]
“Steve, did you ever think about (issue) even though you didn’t go through with it?”[ The Theory: Truthful subjects tend to offer direct denials, particularly as the seriousness of the issue escalates]
The Second Chance
“Steve, do you think that the person who did this (or the kind of person that would do something like this) should be given a second chance?”[The Theory: Truthful subjects usually reject the idea of leniency – no second chance.]
“Steve, how do you think that this investigation will come out on you?” [ The Theory: Truthful subjects usually express confidence that the investigation will exonerate them.]
Baiting the Target – How Would You Explain The Evidence?
“Steve, is there any reason…………..?” – “Now, I’m not saying that you did this but ……..”[ The Theory: Truthful subjects usually spontaneously reject the implication of the bait question.]
Direct Confrontation
“I have in this file the results of our investigation into the (issue). The results of the investigation clearly indicate that you are the person who (issue)”.
“I want to sit down and spend some time with you to see if we can get this thing straightened out. Here is what I think that we are looking at…”
Some Common Themes
“It’s like a snowball at the top of the hill. Right now it hasn’t started rolling down yet, but if you don’t tell the truth now, it’s like you’re letting the snowball roll down the hill and the bigger it gets the more difficult it is to stop it.”
“I don’t want to see that happen to you where this thing gets so big that it would be very difficult to correct. Now is the time to get it straightened out – to tell the whole truth.”
“A lot of times it isn’t so much what a person has done as it is how they feel about it afterwards. And if a person is sorry for what they did – if they feel bad about what they did that would be important to know. I think you are sorry you did this, aren’t you?”
“I think you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I see a lot of good kids that get involved in situations simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and I think that is what happened here.”
What If The Target Denies Guilt – Handling Denials
“Steve, do you think that the person who did this (or the kind of person that would do something like this) should be given a second chance?”
“If a person came forward and admitted (insert crime) should they be given a second chance?” [ The Theory–truthful people usually reject the idea of leniency–no second chance Truthful–“no way”, “they will just do it again.”]
“Steve, how do you think this investigation will come out on you?”
“Steve, is there any reason people would say you did this” or “Why do you think someone would do this?” I’m not saying that you did this, but is there any chance that I may find someone who saw…” [ The Theory–truthful subjects usually spontaneously reject the implication of the Bait Q.]
The Confrontation Statement
“I have in this file the results of our investigation into ____ . The results of the investigation clearly indicate that you are the person who______” OR –a little more gentle approach
“I have the results of the investigation into ____. The results clearly indicate that…..
a) ‘you have not told me the complete truth’
b) ’you are still withholding information about_____’.
OR
“We have interviewed everyone in the area and you are the only one we could not eliminate from suspicion”
“You’re a good honest hard working person who made an error in judgment due to …. “Good person in wrong place at the wrong time…”
“You weren’t hurting anyone”, “you weren’t dealing” “no one got hurt”
“I had a friend/cousin who did this when I was young….”
“Not so much what you did, but that you are sorry…that makes a huge difference.”
The “Alternative” Question
“Steve, did you plan this out or was it impulse? It was impulse wasn’t it Steve”
“Steve, is this something that has happened before or was it the first time? It was the first time wasn’t it Steve?”
“Steve, did you need the money for your family, or did you use it to buy drugs? it was for your family, wasn’t it Steve”
“Steve, was this your friends idea or was it your idea? It was your friends idea, wasn’t it Steve?”
“Steve, if you don’t say anything to straighten this out, you are allowing people to say the worst about you”
“Steve, I know that you are a good, hard working person (start the ‘yes’ head nodding) who just made an error in judgment due to John’s carelessness, if he wouldn’t have left his locker open, there would have never been a problem.”
Conclusion
There is no way to begin to reprint and analyze in this short article the battery of questions – techniques – and games police interrogators play. So here it is – NEVER ever go into an “interview” without a lawyer – and, most of the time – the know that most lawyers will not let you make a statement even if he or she is present..
A Denver Colorado Criminal Lawyer Warns – NEVER Agree To Speak To The Police – But If You Do…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: H. Michael Steinberg –Email The Author- A Denver Colorado Theft Crimes Criminal Defense Lawyer – or call his office at 303-627-7777 during business hours – or call his cell if you cannot wait and need his immediate assistance – 720-220-2277.
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