Interrogation: Letting The Game Come To You

Recently I was working on a couple of interrogation tapes thatnsome agencies ask me to review and soon after presented two ofnmy Level 3 & 4 classes. On the fourth day of this class, studentsnget the opportunity to participate in live interviews with voluntee
subjects from a nearby correctional facility. In both instances, Inwas struck by the fact that the interviewers felt the need to "drive"nthe interview or interrogation. In each case the goal of theninterviewer was to find the truth but during their big push I noticednthe interviewers were missing some subtle but yet extremelynimportant responses by their subjects. As interviewers we need tonlea
how to just "steer" an interview and "let the game come tonus."

With the initiation of the narration phase of any interview I have anset of goals I hope to achieve. First, I want to elicit a full andncomplete uninterrupted statement from my subject so that I can a.)nidentify if the individual is evading, withholding, omitting, altering,nor overlooking critical information that I need for my investigationnand b.) if they are evading, withholding or altering information is itnwith the deliberate intent to mislead me. If I assume a "driving"ntype of approach I often push the subject away from or race pastnissues that may be critical to my analysis and ultimately my case.
Think of this like driving at night - we can "over drive" ournheadlights. We'll have little or no time to react to any roadnchanges or hazards that we illuminate with our headlights becausenwe plowing through the darkness full speed ahead. By slowingndown even just a little in the room I can allow a subject's reactionsnand responses to develop a little more fully. Now as theninterviewer I can "steer" the interview into this areas and therebyngiving me more time and as well many more opportunities to reactnto my subject and the issues that are obviously significant to them.

No one likes being "driven" into what they may perceive is anemotionally or mentally threatening situation. Any one of us wouldnimmediately start to resist in at least a passive if not aggressivenform. Our fight or flight responses have been automaticallyntriggered by the feeling we may be heading for a trap. In twondifferent interviews in two different advanced classes, I spotted thensame "driving" technique being used by students on their inmatenvolunteers. I'm sure that with their new skills my students certainlynwanted to unleash all their newly acknowledge on the poo
unsuspecting inmate but I could them missing some key issues.
Doing something I rarely do, I wrote a note to each interviewe
basically telling them to slow down, allow the subject time tondevelop their responses and notice their reactions. In other words,
"let the game come to you." In both cases, there was annimmediately significant increase in the subjects' reactions as wellnas the quantity and quality of information - both spoken andnunspoken.

We don't need to "drive" our subjects during the interview - justn"steer." If we need to get a full and complete narrative from ournsubject and then fairly test the accuracy of our subject'snstatements, then we are going to have to learn to "let the gamencome to us."