Interviewing Victims and Witnesses

Random thoughts on Interviews and Witnesses, does the smiling Guard have any other way to write???  :)

Eyewitnesses suck.

I have interviewed many people in many years and finally learned that I had to carefully pull the incident from them. Left to their own I'd hear a chronology of their feelings, opinions, wishes, hopes, suppositions, guesses, motivations, psychological problems and fears! Little useful was gained by leaving them to tell it in their own words...except to get a very general idea of the nature of the problem, as they saw it; if they saw it, until I asked the right questions.


I am reminded of the scene from the comedy film Airplane II, The Sequel.

 "Jacobs, I want to know absolutely everything that's happened up 'till now.

Jacobs: Well, let's see: First the earth cooled. And, then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died, and they turned into oil. And, then the Arabs came and they bought Mercedes Benzes..."

At a condo association I once worked, a woman breathlessly told me she had been kidnapped.
It seems her husband took her car keys!
Kidnapped, Ma'am.? "Yes, he prevented me from going shopping and I wanted to go! I'm being held here against my will!"  Ma'am, can I call you a taxi? ....... You're a taxi! (sorry dear sole reader)

Another person told me that their life had been threatened by another employee. What was the nature of the threat? He said if I didn't stop calling him a stupid idiot in front of everybody, he would get me fired!
Ahhhhhh, Ma'am that is not a threat to life. Your job is not your life. "Mine is!" she says.
'Ma'am, we have an EAP here and an HR department that might be able to help you. No crime was committed here, sorry.' HR later calls me and says that this employee's life has been threatened and why wasn't I doing anything about it!
I love HR folks, so thorough. BTW, the HR candy striper had immediately called the local police. What fun! shotguns, flashing lights, oh, my. Never mind, Officers.


Careful questioning requires open ended questions. Do not put your ideas in their head, they will gladly tell you what they think you want to hear; to keep you happy or to try to quickly get you to leave them alone!


The interviews needed to determine criminal or accidental events requires some knowledge of psychology, perception and communications. It requires the interviewer to: Question. Listen. Think. Question. Listen. Think. Question. Listen. Think....

Eye witness testimony is notoriously inaccurate. But unless you have the incident on video, it is all you  have to work with.

Most cases are made on circumstantial evidence. There are some folks who will NEVER think someone is a criminal unless it is on video! "I mean how can I be sure?" See duck test. [But things are not always the way they appear either.]

There are a few excellent training programs and techniques available. One idea I got from a seminar with the California State Police was simply having the witness/victim tell the story: Beginning to end, then end to beginning, then from the middle forward and then middle backward. Amazingly effective. It also identifies lies fairly well too.

The Narrowing Interview has proven invaluable in the preliminary stages of an investigation to reduce the pool of suspects. (I get no money, from these or any other sources, except from my job as a smiling guard...and not much money for that!)

All the books about the Detection of Deception are great reads...but don't use these techniques on your loved ones, you'll be sorry!

The Reid Technique and many equally valid others are available in the form of classes, books, tapes and videos. Learn as much as you can from varied sources. Not all are equally useful.

Media (news reporters) training covers interviewing fairly well.

Descriptions:
People rarely really closely look at others. Getting the perpetrators height, weight, hair color and style, clothing and distinguishing characteristics is not easy. Use comparisons: Was he taller or shorter than me, than you, than Joe over here. etc. Was his hair as long as mine? [Did he have an eye patch and a parrot on his shoulder?, Which eye?, which shoulder?] etc.

I have had this happen a few times in my career.
What race was the criminal?" silence. repeat question. uncomfortable silence. I asked, "Is there a problem with my question? "Well, yeah, I don't want to appear to be a racist." "Okayyyyy, where they white? No, Asian? No, .....

In one case I asked for a description of a man seen rifling purses in the legal department. I got. "It was a guy in a coat". [Great, we'll get right on that, should have him located in no time]You have to pull descriptions from folks...while the criminal is escaping.

Car descriptions must include the licence plate number, as well as make/model/year and distinguishing features (such as bumper sticker, body damage, decals, etc.)

Walk them through it, be patient! Despite their having watched 739 episodes of Law and Order, CSI, etc. they didn't learn anything.

Timing: folks will often say "It happened 5 minutes ago." In fact they first called their friend and discussed it, lots of emoting, then they talked to their office mates. someone suggested they call security. so they find a phone and do so. Actual elapsed time...15 minutes! [I have seen this confirmed when we checked the video tapes.] The criminal in the meantime is half way to the local bar/club/dealer.

TAKE NOTES! Include name, date, time, location, their contact information. Remember your notebook can be subpoenaed, so keep it professional! Keep your old notebooks for 7 years, then shred them.

Witnesses seem to speak English but their definitions are theirs, they may not be yours. "I was robbed" is common. Most do not know the difference between robbed (theft through force or fear) vs. burglary (entering a property for the purpose of committing any felony) vs. theft (unlawful taking) vs. conversion (preventing lawful use), do not assume you are speaking the same language. [Just look at Black's Law Dictionary sometime!]

Remember that detecting lies etc. is more complex than noticing they looked down and left...meaning they were making something up. It's not that easy!

Learning how to do professional investigative interviews and getting accurate detailed descriptions is crucial in doing a thorough job. Don't jump to conclusions. Be patient.
Interviews
Investigative Journalism
Cognitive Interview