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When the Evidence Is Incorrect: an Exploration of What Happens When Interviewers Unwittingly Present Inaccurate
Martijn van Beek1,2, Ray Bull2, Melissa Chen3
1Police Academy of the Netherlands, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology
|December 8, 2021
Summary
Police interviewers should carefully consider suspect responses when incorrect evidence is presented. This technique can elicit confessions from guilty parties without implicating the innocent, but requires careful handling of potential misinformation.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Criminology
- Forensic Science
Background:
- Presenting evidence to suspects is a key interrogation technique to elicit confessions.
- Disclosing incorrect evidence, whether deliberate or accidental, carries risks in police interviews.
- Witness inaccuracies can lead to police unintentionally using flawed information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine police interviewers' behavioral responses when suspects identify incorrect evidence.
- To determine how interviewers handle suspect challenges to disclosed evidence.
Main Methods:
- Fifty police interviewers conducted scripted crime interviews with "suspects".
- Researchers analyzed interviewers' reactions when interviewees claimed disclosed evidence was wrong.
- Adaptive, neutral, and maladaptive responses were categorized.
Main Results:
- Most interviewers (35/50) responded neutrally to suspects identifying incorrect evidence.
- A minority (11/50) responded adaptively, incorporating the new information.
- Four interviewers responded maladaptively by discrediting the suspect's claims.
- Interviewer experience and extensive training correlated negatively with adaptive responses.
Conclusions:
- Police interviewers need heightened awareness of potential inaccuracies in disclosed evidence.
- Suspects' claims of incorrect evidence require careful consideration and validation.
- Interview training should address adaptive responses to suspect challenges regarding evidence accuracy.
Keywords:
BiasInformationInterrogationInvestigative interviewingPoliceStrategic use of evidenceSuspectsMore Related Videos
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