The most important thing to learn about interrogation is that you have to have a method. You can’t just wing it, or worse than that, use the untried and untrue method of interrogation that most police and private investigators use with constant failure. And what method is that, you may ask. It’s the same one that the general public has of interrogations, gleaned from years of watching TV cop shows and movies. Hard to believe, but most cops and PIs use the methods dreamed up by Hollywood screen writers. This is definitely one time you want to go against perceptions. When I first started out as a police detective, I was embarrassed because I couldn’t get suspects to cop out to any crimes they committed. Using my Dad’s axiom that if you don’t know something, someone wrote a book on it, I went down to a legal bookstore and found a book on interrogations. Even though it went against my perceived knowledge of interrogations (TV & movies again), I studied it, utilized it every time I interrogated someone, and then critiqued myself. After a while, I was amazed that suspects began coping out to all kinds of crimes. I got to be really successful at obtaining confessions. My success at interrogation wasn’t really due to me, however, it was due to the method that I learned and utilized. Here’s where I’m going with this. Find a method you like. Buy the book and attend the author’s seminar when you can. Study it and believe in it. Use it every time, whether it’s a petty theft or a triple murder. Critique yourself every time when you’re finished. When you get that first cop out, you’ll know it was all worth it.
