Do the unexpected. Turn your interrogation into an interview. 

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     An interview is just a “conversation with a purpose” to get the truth.  Themed-based interviewing is a valuable tool for certain criminal offenses however does have its limitations.

In any interview, “Responding” is a powerful technique that generates a treasure trove of volunteered information. “Responding” can turn almost anyone into a great conversationalist and has universal application. It is amazing the amount and quality of information that this technique produces, even from family and friends.

     Developed by the field of counseling psychology, there are three types of responding: responding to content; to feelings; and feelings and meaning. The responding technique requires proficiency in specific social and emotional intelligence skills and our ability to accurately read facial expressions, including micro-expressions. “Responding” is so simple yet incredibly powerful for generating information, especially from suspects.

     Watch the training video of an interview with a participant during class demonstrating how to use the responding technique to facilitate a conversation. As the interviewer, I use responding to generate more information than the participant ever thought they would share in front of the class. Focusing on key words and phrases, I always have another question that leads to valuable intelligence that should be used if the interviewee becomes deceptive.