Investigator Tips
Current Investigator Tip
Coercive Behaviors versus the Reid Technique
Feb 21, 2026
"Coercive Investigator Behaviors That Can Cause False Confessions"
"• Physical abuse of the subject
• Threats of physical harm
• Threats of inevitable consequences*
• Promises of leniency**
...Previous Tips
What Defense Attorneys and False Confession “Experts” Do Not Want You To Know
Feb 21, 2026
Over a period of numerous decades, the courts have examined the issue of false confessions in thousands of cases, as a result of which the following represent the primary causes of false...
Protecting the Innocent
Feb 03, 2026
For nearly eight decades, John E. Reid & Associates, Inc. has set the standard for ethical and effective investigative interviewing. Our longevity is rooted in a simple principle: a commitment...
False Confession “Experts” Make Baseless, Unfounded, and Groundless Statements About the Reid Technique
Dec 22, 2025
False confession “experts” often claim that "the Reid method of interrogation is universally believed to lead to coerced and/or false confessions/statements in a significant number of criminal cases" without any substantiation at...
A Description of the Reid Technique of Investigative Interviewing and Interrogation
Nov 02, 2025
Over the years we have published numerous Investigator Tips and What's New entries on our website detailing the procedures, processes and safeguards of the Reid Technique for both the Investigative Interview process...
A Catalog of Criticisms of the Reid Technique and Our Responses
Nov 02, 2025
Over the years we have published numerous Investigator Tips and What's New entries on our website detailing the various criticisms of the Reid Technique and our responses. In this Investigator Tip we...
Helpful Hints for the Interview and Interrogation of White Collar Criminal Suspects
Oct 28, 2025
The euphemism “white collar crime” is commonly used to describe a broad array of theft that occurs more often through the stroke of a pen or keyboard rather than at the working...
The Fallacy of Defense Attorney Claims That The Reid Technique Causes False Confessions
Oct 24, 2025
The Fallacy of Defense Attorney Claims that the Reid Technique Causes False Confessions
In confession cases, the defense attorney and their false confession “expert” will oftentimes claim that the Reid Technique causes...
The Essential Elements of the Reid Technique: A Fact Sheet
Oct 23, 2025
Since 1947, John E. Reid and Associates has been conducting investigative interviews and, when appropriate, interrogations.
For over six decades, we have been teaching investigators from law enforcement, government agencies, and the...
The Investigator's Workbook: Principles of Practice - How to Conduct Proper Interviews and Interrogations
Oct 13, 2025
Principles of Practice: How to Conduct Proper Investigative Interviews and Interrogations*
Since 1947, John E. Reid and Associates has been conducting investigative interviews and, when appropriate, interrogations.
Since the mid-1970s, we have...
Revisiting Misinformation About the Reid Technique
Sep 12, 2025
In the publication, “From Third-Degree To Third-Generation Interrogation Strategies: putting science into the art of criminal interviewing”, * there are several statements about the Reid Technique that require correction.
The author...
The Investigator's Notebook
Aug 31, 2025
The Investigator’s Notebook consists of over 190 Investigator Tips organized in a sequence that reflects the various stages of an investigation. Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues.
Preparing to Testify in a Confession Case
Aug 19, 2025
Preparing to Testify in a Confession Case
In almost every confession case, the defense will challenge the admissibility of their client’s confession, oftentimes suggesting that it was the result of some inappropriate...
The Difference Between Research and Reality: Behavior Symptom Analysis
Aug 14, 2025
Almost without exception research studies that attempt to determine whether or not investigators can accurately evaluate a subject's credibility based on their verbal and nonverbal behaviors yield results that are no better...
Best Practices That Investigators Should Follow To Prevent False Confessions
Aug 07, 2025
Before we discuss the “best practices,” it is relevant to consider the primary causes of false confessions.
Over 60 years ago, in the first edition of their book, Criminal Interrogation and Confessions...
Conducting the Investigation
Jul 25, 2025
Please feel free to share this Investigator Tip or any of the previously published Tips with your prosecutor's Office and your colleagues.
Investigator Tip: Conducting the Investigation
When a crime has been...
Cases that address the issue of misrepresenting evidence during an interrogation
May 29, 2025
Why do the courts reject the premise from false confession experts that lying to a suspect about evidence causes false confessions?
May 29, 2025
Social Psychologists, Defense Attorneys, Academicians, and Law Enforcement interrogation critics claim that
Misrepresenting evidence to a subject during an interrogation will cause innocent people to confess
Social psychologists often claim that police...
Correcting Misinformation About the Reid Technique
May 06, 2025
Critics of the Reid Technique make several false and erroneous statements (in italics below) when describing the Reid process. In the following pages, we will list their criticisms and our responses.
The...Note Taking Guidelines During the Investigative Interview and the Interrogation
May 02, 2025
During the investigative interview (Behavior Analysis Interview - BAI), the investigator’s interview questions should be asked in a conversational tone and always be non-accusatory. The investigator should take a written note following...
The Reid Technique: Science-Based Interviewing
Feb 06, 2025
The Reid Technique: Science-Based Interviewing
The Reid Technique has been based on and has utilized “science-based methodology” for over 7 decades.
At the American Psychology-Law Society conference in Los Angeles in March...