A major change in the way law enforcement organizations operate may come sooner than later and hopefully indicates a positive trend in interrogation techniques. The Marshall Project, a non-profit journalism organization that focuses on the criminal justice system, has reported that Wicklander-Zulawski and Associates, a consulting group that has trained hundreds of thousands of police officers across the country, has suggested they will stop using the Reid Technique for interrogation.
The Reid technique originated with John Reid, a polygraph expert, in the 1940s and has been updated periodically since.
It begins even before the interview, by placing subjects in small, soundproof rooms in uncomfortable chairs, making them feel helpless. It then continues with a casual conversation between the suspect and the interviewer. The logic behind this is that by creating a casual conversation and getting the suspect to begin talking, it will be harder for them to stop.
Next, law enforcement officers begin asking accusatory questions, as if the suspect has already been found guilty, as well as positing possible motives and scenarios in which the suspect committed the crime. It is an aggressive form of interrogation, and throughout the years it has been attacked in courtrooms several times.
The Reid Technique was the part of the impetus for and was named in the Supreme Court decision in 1966 requiring officers to inform suspects of their rights, including the right not to speak, in order not to incriminate themselves. It has also been shown to be less than 100 percent effective as an interrogation tool. Research shows people under extreme pressure, especially those with mental illness, at times confess to make the aggressive behavior stop or because they are persuaded to believe the evidence they are presented is true.
Through the work of the Innocence Project and the emergence of DNA evidence, however, several cases and admissions have been overturned, and one-third of the overturned cases have been confessions, bringing into question the reliability of admissions obtained using the technique.
As reported by The Marshall Report, all this contributed to the consulting firm’s dropping Reid’s work, as well as requests by several law enforcement agencies to retire the technique.
This may be good news for those accused of crimes. If these tactics are no longer taught or are no longer admissible in court, it may be possible for suspects of crimes to get far more fair treatment when being interrogated than previously, and it can only be hoped the stress and strain will be a thing of the past. Hopefully, whatever techniques are used as replacement will be better, and not worse, and the trend toward fairness will continue.
Dan Carman & Attorneys, PLLC are a network of criminal defense attorneys located throughout the state. If you have questions or seek a consultation, contact us at 859-685-1055 or through our website.
