Planning, Preparation, Positioning
Thursday, December 23rd 2010 @ 12:43 PM
What if you were going to build a house...what is one of the FIRST things you need to do? Well of course, you have to know what you are going to build. You have to have a plan...blueprints...in order to get the outcome you desire. Without a plan or blueprint of what you are building, how do you know what you are building? How will you know when you are finished? If you have someone helping you build, how will they know what to do? How well do you think the house will be built? Will it pass inspection? Probably not...
The same goes for a professional investigative interview; You need a plan. You have to prepare. You have to position yourself to be successful. If you fail to do these foundational practices, your outcome will suffer.
Planning involves getting as much case facts as you can. What evidence is there? How strong is it? Is there the potential that may still develop or be uncovered? Any witnesses? If so, what do they have to say? Was their information corroborated? Any other potential suspects?
You also want to gather as much information about the individual you are going to interview as possible. The more biographical information you have about them, the more information you will have to build rapport and connect with them. Married? Kids? Work? School? Hobbies? Travel? Religion? Prior arrests? Prior cooperation with police? Prior aggression towards police? Virtually anything and everything you can gather about the individual may assist you, and it will certainly not hurt you (you really can't be over-prepared).
You also want to give thought to where the interview will be conducted. Police interview room? Casual office? The individuals workplace? Their home? An outside, neutral location? Also, the logistics such as seating, tables, note taking, recording (audio and/or video), etc, as well as your initial contact with them and how you will get them to the location of the interview? What will you say to them? What questions may they have for you right off the bat? How will you respond? How much time can you allot for the interview? Any paperwork you need?
Preparation also involves thinking about your goals and objectives in the interview. The overarching goal is to gather as much accurate facts and information as possible, but there may be instances where you want to really focus on which are unique to each individual and circumstance.
For instance, it may be prudent on an internal theft case occurring on a specific known day to generate a great open statement by asking the individual to write down everything that happened from the time they arrived at work until they ended their day. In a homicide case, your goal in the a particular interview may be understanding the relationship between the victim of the homicide and the individual you are planing to talk with, rather than what they did on a specific day (especially if the day of the homicide is not known). Knowing your goals is important and will help with question formulation.
Being prepared will position you for success in the interview or interrogation. Being prepared will position you as a professional, as an expert, as a competent interviewer, which is what you want. This will tend to reassure the individuals who are innocent and want to cooperate that you are competent and know what you are doing, and that you will get to the truth. They will tend to relax because of your calm, professional demeanor, during this non-accusatory interview. This same image projected to a "guilty" individual will have an opposite effect. Do they want you to get to the truth? Of course not. They may be more concerned that you are so well-prepared, they may be anxious about talking to you, even though you are projecting a calm, professional demeanor in a non-threatening manner.
So, on your next interview, make sure you PLAN, make sure you PREPARE, and make sure you POSITION yourself as a competent professional.
All my best,
Wes
