Mastering the Art of Questioning

Interviewing and Interrogation

They do not interrogate persons who they can rather interview through building rapport with interviewees

Interviews take place as soon as possible after the incident, while interrogations usually take place at a later stage deliberately to give the interrogator enough time to gather as much information as possible.

Single purpose interrogation, Pessimism interrogation, Guilt feelings interrogation

Reasons for witnesses being uncooperative include being cautious not to incriminate themselves, wanting to protect perpetrators, and being afraid of reprisals/revenge should they assist with providing information.

Information received from uncooperative individuals should be considered with caution because they may be intentionally deceitful or vague when providing information.

Witnesses who cooperate and provide information may face consequences such as incriminating themselves, endangering the perpetrators they are protecting, or experiencing reprisals/revenge.

An eyewitness is a person who personally saw the crime transpire, while a corroborative witness is a person who can provide information about the circumstances which surrounded the crime.

The evidence of an eyewitness would be given more weight during a trial because the witness was present and saw the suspect shoot the victim.

Additional information such as ballistic testing of the gun found on the suspect which matches the bullet found in the body of the cashier or gunshot residue testing on the hand of the suspect which confirms that he had recently fired a weapon would be needed to support the assumption.

The difference is that, in the case of an eyewitness, the additional evidence is value that is added, while in the case of the corroborative witness, more evidence is required to support the conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

An independent witness is someone who is unbiased and not associated with the victim, suspect, or the crime. Their testimony carries additional weight in court.

The main points covered in a physical description (PD) are the surrounding features, the head, the rest of the body, and any physical peculiarities.

The police use techniques such as comparisons and corresponding descriptions, criminal photograph albums (Rogue's Galleries), sketches by police artists, and composite pictures of the face (IdentiKits) to enhance the accuracy of physical descriptions.

Factors related to human ability that can affect the reliability of witness information include: eyesight, surrounding circumstances, exposure duration, emotional condition, previous experience, alcohol and/or drug intoxication, and mental health.

Human memory is an imprecise, interpretive reconstruction of events subject to contamination in both its initial encoding and subsequent retrieval. The longer the time that passes between observing an event and trying to recall the details of the event, the greater the risk that details will be forgotten. Additionally, older persons typically experience a decline in their ability to recall events.

Factors related to human disposition that can affect the reliability of witness information include: suggestion, association, prejudice, and stereotyping.

Prejudice and stereotyping can influence the perception of individuals from specific races/ethnicities or sexes as being predominantly responsible for the crime problem. Eyewitness identifications of individuals of races other than the witness are, on average, less accurate than identifications of individuals of the same race. Similarly, identifications of men by women, or women by men tend to be less accurate than identifications of men by men or women by women.