Ever get the feeling someone has been lying to you? A session at the recent International Association of Special Investigation Units entitled, “The Reid Technique of Interviewing and Interrogation,” was a good place to be to help get your suspicions confirmed. The workshop had one objective: Teach the techniques and tricks of eliciting information from suspects that result in admissible confessions.
The Reid Process, as explained by the company's president, Joseph P. Buckley, involves three major points:
Behavior Symptom Analysis – The verbal and non-verbal behavioral characteristics that distinguish a truthful person from one who is withholding or fabricating relevant information.
The Behavior Analysis Interview – The structure for the interview that is designed to elicit both factual and behavioral information so as to suggest investigative direction.
The Reid Nine Steps of Interrogation – The interrogation process that is designed to obtain an admission of guilt.
Given that the seminar typically is held over the course of three days, Buckley focused on the most important topic for investigators. “In an insurance investigation, you are looking at whether or not the [suspect] is credible.”
Though he cautioned that no behavior is always consistent with telling the truth or lying, there are a lot of common characteristics that can guide your instincts in the right direction, especially when multiple characteristics appear.
His technique in interviewing suspects included two steps. The first involved having a non-accusatory, information-gathering conversation. Generally, this is done in a question-and-answer format. By using the 80/20 rule–where the investigator speaks 20 percent of the time and the subject 80 percent–the investigator allows the person to tell his story by utilizing both investigative and behavior-provoking questions.
“Silence is your ally in an interview,” said Buckley. “It gives the subject the chance to keep on talking, and guilty people will usually add information, thinking, 'Did that sound right?'”
Video demonstrations featuring real investigators interviewing their subjects highlighted the session and demonstrated the goals of an interview, which is to develop investigative and behavioral information. One case showed Sharon, a single mother and a new employee on the job for just over a month, being questioned by an investigator using the techniques Buckley described. Assigned to work a drive-up window at a bank, Sharon states that she placed $1,500 in a drawer for her supervisor to deposit, but somehow, the money disappears a short time later.
By watching the investigator implement behavior-provoking questions, attendees saw first hand the lessons Buckley taught, discussed their own observations, and then offered a verdict based on those observations. Together with the interrogative nature of the investigator and Sharon's verbal and non-verbal responses, a full confession was elicited from her.
“The number one reason a person confesses is that they say the investigator seemed to understand their situation,” said Buckley. “This can be achieved by telling a personal story even worse than theirs to better relate to them and build sympathy.”
For more information about the Reid Process, go to http://www.reid.com.
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