Psychological Testing
Law enforcement interrogation techniques have a high potential for error because criminals are motivated to give false information to the police. An effective training program can help to reduce the potential for error by teaching officers how to conduct interrogation techniques properly, and by helping officers select the most appropriate techniques to use with a given subject. Selection of an optimal technique greatly improves the chances of learning useful information from a subject, and reduces error rates. Commonly used methods include good cop/bad cop, pride and ego down and the Reid technique. It is important to be able to select the optimal technique and implement it correctly to reduce errors.
A number of techniques are effective for gaining information from a subject during interrogation, however some techniques work better with certain types of subjects than others. Good cop/bad cop works well with young or inexperienced subjects who are easily intimidated and still seeking the approval of authority figures. Pride and ego down can be effective in situations where a subject is likely to be proud of his criminal activity; by attacking his ego, he can be induced to brag about crimes in order to redeem himself. The Reid technique is somewhat controversial, as it can be error-prone. The major component of the technique is to lead a subject in to a confession by presenting the subject with a series of choices, where the less morally objectionable choice leads toward a confession.
Officers must be taught to determine what technique is appropriate for a given situation and to implement it properly. Selection of the correct interrogation technique reduces the probability of error greatly. It is also important that officers be given substantial opportunity for practice in order to perfect their techniques. The use of skilled practice subjects to simulate difficult or unusual interrogations will help to reduce the likelihood of errors in real interrogations.
