Ever get the feeling that someone has been lying to you? Those who attended last month's International Association of Special Investigation Units conference in Phoenix may just have had their suspicions confirmed.
“In an insurance investigation, you are looking at whether or not the [suspect] is credible,” said Joseph P. Buckley, president of John E. Reid and Associates, in a seminar on interviewing and interrogation techniques. Buckley cautioned that no behavior is always consistent with telling the truth or lying, but many common characteristics can guide investigators' instincts in the right direction.
An effective interrogation process, Buckley explained, involves three major points. Behavior Symptom Analysis describes 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 is structured to elicit both factual and behavioral information so as to suggest investigative direction. The third item is an interrogation process that is designed to obtain an admission of guilt.
Buckley's technique in interviewing suspects involves two steps. The first is a non-accusatory, information-gathering conversation. Generally, this is done in a question-and-answer format. Using the 80/20 rule, whereby the investigator speaks 20 percent of the time and the subject 80 percent, the investigator allows the person to tell his story by asking 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 investigators interviewing subjects highlighted the session and demonstrated the goals of an interview. In one example, Sharon, a single mother and a new employee, was questioned using the techniques that Buckley described. Assigned to work a drive-up window at a bank, Sharon stated that she had placed $1,500 in a drawer for her supervisor to deposit but, somehow, the money disappeared a short time later. The interrogative nature of the investigator and Sharon's verbal and non-verbal responses led to a full confession 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.”
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