CLICK here for info on new 5th edition of Criminal Interrogation and Confessions
01/27/201290% of responding agencies who record their interrogations find the recordings to be helpful
In January 2012 we included a survey question with our emails announcing the location of a Reid seminar - here are the results

  1. Does your organization video or audio record your interviews?
    • Yes - 190 (67.8%)
    • No - 90 (32.1%)
  2. If yes, for the majority of cases, has the recording been
    • Helpful - 176 (90.7%)
    • Detrimental - 8 (4.1%)

01/16/2012IACP model policy for recording interrogations
In an article by Beth Warren entitled, "States move to require recordings of homicide confessions" she reports that eighteen states require police to record interrogations, at least in homicide cases, and she also reports the following:

"The "International Association of Chiefs of Police has adopted a model policy for handling major crimes that states: "Interrogations and confessions shall be recorded in their entirety starting with the interrogator's entrance into the interview room and concluding upon departure of the interrogator and suspect.

"Such electronic recordings can help protect both the suspect(s) and interviewing officers against potential assertions of police coercion or related interrogation misconduct, and may increase the likelihood of successful prosecution."

The National District Attorneys Association agrees. Executive director Scott Burns said prosecutors used to oppose it.

"Now a lot of defense attorneys and defendants are opposing it," said Burns, a veteran Utah prosecutor. "It's more compelling, powerful evidence," he said.
Click here or the complete article:
01/13/2012Thank you for the most valuable tool in my cop toolbox
We recently received the following from a past participant:

"I recently retired from my department. Early in my career as a detective, and before the internet, I heard of your program. And I had the good fortune to be sent to both courses. In the course of time, I used the techniques that I was taught. Two recollections come to my mind. First, after trial a young prosecutor in his office commented on my summary of the defendant's confession, "How the hell do you do it?" Second, on my last day as I looked in my bathroom mirror asked myself the question. My answer was, NO! I never put an innocent person in jail. Thank you for the most valuable tool in my cop toolbox."

I remain grateful,
Robert Muncy
LEO/I ret.
01/13/2012New Canadian legal column available for Reid Institute members
"Stick to offence, not defence" is the new January article written by Gino Arcaro M.Ed. B.Sc for the Reid Institute members web page. Here are the first two paragraphs of th article:

R. v. Côté (2011) SCC

I.Don't criticize a defence lawyer's advice.

Stop bad-mouthing defence lawyers to suspects during an interrogation. This is the most important message that comes from this decision regarding interrogation. This is another in a long-line of case law decisions that shows the court's zero-tolerance for police officers denigrating defence lawyers and their advice to clients. The SCC has given the police leeway in the right to remain silent but not about denigrating defence lawyers. One of the biggest mistakes you can make during an interrogation is criticizing a defence lawyers's advice.

R. v. Côté involved a homicide. The accused was charged with second degree murder. The SCC acquitted her. The statement to police was excluded as well as the physical evidence. The accused walked away scot-free because of what the SCC described as "systemic disregard for the law and the Constitution" and, "disturbing and aberrant police behaviour."


Click here for this article.
01/07/2012Legal Updates Winter 2012
In our Legal Updates Winter 2012 column we feature cases that address the following issues:
  • "Testimony of expert regarding interrogation techniques was irrelevant."
  • Promise to keep the suspect's name out of the media will not invalidate the confession
  • Court finds the proposed testimony on false confessions does not meet the Frye test
  • Police should not destroy notes of any pre-interview interrogatio
  • If properly done a polygraph examination does not have a coercive impact on a suspect's confession
  • Polygraph examiner's behavior did not render the suspect's confession involuntary
  • 13 hours between waiver and incriminating statements
  • "Incessant questioning or demands to tell the truth" do not render a confession inadmissible
  • Questioning a suspect four times over a 60-hour period of custody did not render the confession inadmissible
  • Is telling a suspect "that if he cooperated and told the truth, he would get more points off his ultimate sentence under the federal Sentencing Guidelines" a promise of leniency that nullifies the confession?
  • Leading questions which contain crime details can jeopardize the reliability of a confession
  • Failure to offer testimony of a false confession expert was insufficient reason to find trial counsel's performance deficient
  • Two and one-half hours between initial interview (and advisement of rights) and the second interview without a re-advisement did not cause the rights to "grow stale."
  • 17 hour interrogation not too long while police are still investigating the case
  • "I will tell you everything" is not an inculpatory statement
  • Is a request to talk to his mother invoking the defendant's right to remain silent?
  • Confession found inadmissible - police violated Miranda and improperly misrepresented evidence to the suspect

Click here for Legal Updates Winter 2012
01/05/2012How A Teen's Coerced Confession Set Her Free
That is the title of a story NPR produced yesterday which focuses on the interrogation of a 16 year old mother on whether or not she killed her 13 month old son. The judge, Worcester Superior Court Judge Janet Kenton-Walker, reviewed the videotaped interrogation and found the confession to be inadmissible - not a voluntary statement.
Click here for the complete NPR story
01/01/2012New 5th edition of Criminal Interrogation and Confessions now available

Criminal Interrogations and Confessions, Fifth Edition presents the Reid Technique of interviewing and interrogation and is the standard used in the field. This updated Fifth Edition presents interviewing and interrogation techniques, based on actual criminal cases, which have been used successfully by thousands of criminal investigators. This practical text is built around simple psychological principles and examines interrogation as a nine-step process that is easily understood by the reader.

New and Key Features of the updated Fifth Edition:

  • The text contains updated photographs throughout to illustrate behavior symptoms; the proper room setting and positioning; as well the placement of electronic recording equipment.
  • Every chapter of the text includes updated information.
  • Chapter 9 (Behavior Symptom Analysis) contains new research that has been conducted on the efficacy of behavior symptom analysis, as well as building for the reader the behavioral model of the truthful individual versus the subject who is withholding or fabricating relevant information.
  • Chapters 7 through 12 discuss in detail how to build the investigative interview, including the proper use of both investigative and behavior provoking questions, as well as guidelines for evaluating the credibility of allegations, and the proper use of follow-up and bait questions.
  • Chapter 15 (Distinguishing between True and False Confessions) has been updated to include new cases throughout and contains two new sections; "The Issue of False Confessions in the Courtroom - The Testimony of Expert Witnesses" and "The Issue of False Confessions in the Courtroom - Court Decisions".
  • Chapter 17 discusses all of the legal issues related to interrogation and confession law, including Miranda, the meaning of custody, the use of threats and/or promises, the use of deception, and confession voluntariness. The chapter contains updated legal references including 2011 court decisions.


Table of Contents

Part 1 Preliminary Considerations
  1. Distinctions between Interviews and Interrogations
  2. Obtaining and Evaluating Factual Information
  3. Case Solution Possibilities
  4. Initial Precautionary Measures for the Protections of the Innocent
  5. Privacy and the Interview Room
  6. Qualifications, Attitude, and General Conduct of the Investigator
Part 2 Interviewing Techniques
  1. Preparation and Starting the Interview
  2. Formulating Interview Questions
  3. Behavior Symptom Analysis
  4. Precautions when Evaluating Behavior Symptoms of Truthful and Untruthful Subjects
  5. The Behavior Analysis Interview
  6. The Use of Specialized Questioning Techniques
Part 3 Interrogation Techniques
  1. The Reid Nine Steps of Interrogation
  2. Recommendations for Interrogators
  3. Distinguishing between True and False Confessions
  4. Testifying on a Confession
  5. Interrogation Law


Click here for the complete Index



Click here to order.
12/13/2011"The Reid Technique of Interviewing and Interrogation(R) has a success rate, when properly conducted, of between 85 and 90 percent--an astonishing statistic in the field of human behavior." Ed Sanow, Law and Order
In the November 2011 issue of Law and Order magazine the Editorial Director, Ed Sanow, wrote an extensive article about The Reid Technique - he had recently attended one of our 3 day seminars. The seven page article details the essential elements of the Reid Technique. In the author's closing paragraph he states the following:

"Every detective should attend the course. And not just new detectives. It will help every detective who has had the guilty suspect sitting right in front of them, but just couldn't get the confession. The three-day course is also excellent for all patrol officers and sheriff's deputies in smaller towns and cities without detective units - where the sam patrol officer takes the initial call, performs the investigation, and conducts the interview. The Reid Technique deserves its legendary status in law enforcement." (emphasis added)
Click here for the complete article.
12/12/2011The danger of feeding information to a suspect during an interrogation - Juan Rivera conviction overturned
One of the key guidelines that we teach in our courses and books is that the investigator should conceal details about the crime so that when a suspect confesses and provides those concealed details they can be used to corroborate the confession. If the investigator reveals the details about the crime in the interrogation through the use of leading questions, "She had a multi-colored shirt on, right?" (from the Rivera case) it eliminates the use of that information to corroborate the suspect's confession.

In their opinion overturning the conviction of Juan Rivera (based primarily on DNA evidence) in paragraph 44 of their opinion the court expresses their concern for the use of leading questions during the interrogation and the validity of the subsequent confession.
Click here for the court's opinion.
11/30/2011New York Times article of false confessions
On November 27, 2011 the New York Times published an extensive article on several false confession cases. The focus of the article is on several cases from Illinois involving subsequent DNA testing. One item of note in the article is the statement that, "In his 2011 book, ''Convicting the Innocent,'' Brandon Garrett, a law professor at the University of Virginia, examined most of the case files for the first 250 DNA exonerations. Garrett found that 76 percent of wrongly convicted prisoners were misidentified by a witness and half the cases involved flawed forensic evidence. The testimony of an informant, often a jailhouse cellmate of the accused, was pivotal in 21 percent of the cases. Perhaps most surprising, 16 percent -- virtually all of whom were subjected to interrogations lasting several hours and, in many cases, days -- confessed to crimes they didn't commit."

As we have noted in our training programs and publications, excessively long interrogations increase the possibility of false confessions. If no progress has been made within 4 hours, the investigator should re-consider the subject's status, particularly if the suspect's denials remain adamant and persistent. Certainly interrogations can exceed 4 hours when new evidence is developed; when the suspect changes their story; when the suspect makes a partial admission; etc., but absent any of these or similar circumstances, great care should be exercised when interrogations exceed about 4 hours.
Click here for the complete NY Times article.
11/30/2011Canadian article critical of the Reid Technique - our response
On November 25, 2011 an article was written by Joseph Brean in the National Post on line newspaper in Cab=nada, critical of the Reid Technique. Click here for the complete article -

Here is the response that we sent to the author:

Dear Mr. Brean,

Your recent article, "You're guilty, now confess: False admissions put police's favourite interrogation tactic under scrutiny" in the National Post News does not accurately reflect the full context of the Canadian courts' view of the interrogation techniques that we teach, and is misleading on our position regarding the issue of false confessions.

At the outset, we make very clear in any and all of our training programs (and written materials) that the only interrogation techniques that an investigator can use are those approved by the courts (Canadian/US respectively).

Secondly, when the interrogation is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines established by the courts, the community is served by the resolution of cases.

In an article that we wrote we have included comments from the Supreme Court of Canada on the type of techniques that we include in our training - http://www.reid.com/educational_info/canada.html. A balanced article would have included many of these comments rather than the passing statement you made.

Furthermore, in both the 4th and now 5th edition of our book (just published), Criminal Interrogation and Confessions, we included an extensive chapter on the issue of false confessions, entitled, "Distinguishing between True and False Confessions" which includes a litany of safeguards that should be put in place - http://www.reid.com/store2/detail.html?sku=cic4th.

In addition, a part of our training manual addresses the issue of false confessions:
Click Here

 Critics of the Reid Technique often misrepresent what we teach - in a recent article that we wrote we point out some of these issues: http://www.reid.com/educational_info/r_tips.html?serial=1309864251267367&print=[print]

Finally, as you reference, the PEACE model is essentially the first phase of the Reid Technique:
Click Here

Joseph P. Buckley
President
John E. Reid and Associates
800-255-5747 ext 19
10/26/2011Legal Update Fall 2011
The fall 2011 legal updates include cases which address the following issues:
  • Court rejects the proffered testimony of Professor Alan Hirsch; no basis to say the Reid Technique enhances the risk of unreliable confessions
  • The value of video recording an interrogation – discredits defendant’s allegations
  • Court rules that accident scenario is not coercive
  • Does a statement to the defendant that his children would be removed from the house unless he cooperated with the investigation render the confession inadmissible?
  • Defense decides not to call Dr. Ricard Leo as an expert witness
  • Court rejects claim that defense counsel was ineffective because they did not introduce an expert witness on the issue of false confessions
  • Court rejects the testimony of an expert in police procedure regarding the use of the Reid interview technique
  • The “underwear bomber” did not have to be advised of his Miranda rights due to the public safety exception
  • Is a student in custody when he is asked by school officials to accompany the police for questioning?
  • What statements constitute a promise of leniency?
  • References to religion during an interrogation do not result in a coerced confession
  • Juvenile interrogation: The statement that you are “not going to be under arrest” and that “[y]ou're gonna walk out of here one way or the other. * * * You're not under arrest.” was found to be coercive
  • Court limits the testimony of expert witness Dr. Samuel Roll on the issue of false confessions
  • Does the suspect’s invocation of their right to remain silent without the assistance of counsel preclude the police from attempting to obtain incriminating information from them? The Oregon Supreme Court said no.
  • Court rejects the testimony of expert witness Dr. Christopher Lamps on the issue of confession voluntariness
  • A social worker's interview of juvenile at youth home, during which he confessed to crimes, was not custodial interrogation

Click Here for Cases
10/20/2011Case clarifies United States Supreme Court decision in Garrity v. New Jersey
In the July, 2011 case of US v. Callahan, the US District Court. N.D. Georgia, provided a very detailed explanation of the US Supreme Court's decision in Garrity re the use of compelled statements in a criminal prosecution as it applied that decision to the Callahan matter. The US Supreme held in Garrity that the admission of compelled statements was unconstitutional because the statements were inadmissible under the Due Process Clause as coerced confessions, and the state's threat to fire police officers unless they gave statements was an unconstitutional condition
Click here for the complte decision
10/20/2011Does an interrogation that exceeds 6 hours mean that the resulting confession was coerced?
Dr. Richard Leo has espoused the position that interrogations that exceed 6 hours result in coerced confessions. The basis for this statement can be found in an article he co-authored with Steven Drizen in March 2004, entitled "The Problem of False Confessions in the Post-DNA World" (North Carolina Law Review) in which they examined 125 cases that they found in the prior 33 years that they classify as false confession cases. When the length of 44 of these interrogations were reviewed (apparently no time for the length of the interrogation was reported for the remaining 81 cases) they found the following results:

Length # People %
Less than 6 hour 7 16%
6 to 12 hours 15 34%
12 to 24 hours 17 39%
24 to 48 hours 3 7%
48 to 72 hours 1 2%
72 to 96 hours 1 2%
The article goes on to say that "The average length of interrogation was 16.3 hours, and the median length of interrogation was twelve hours."

It is clear that if the median length of these 44 interrogations was 12 hours, the statement that interrogations that exceed 6 hours necessarily result in coerced confessions is not supported by the data.

As in every case, the courts consider the "totality of circumstances" and do not view the length of interrogation as a definitive factor regarding the admissibility of a confession
Click here for the complete article
10/12/2011Video presentation by Dr. Richad Leo in which he gives his description of the Reid Technique
On their website, The Innocence Legal Team, offers a video presentation by Dr. Richard Leo of his description of the Reid Technique (which he also calls the Reid Method). The presentation can be accessed by clicking on the link labeled, Research on Coerced Confessions and Investigations, on their website at http://www.innocencelegalteam.com/attorney-training-seminars.php.

It should be noted that Dr. Leo misrepresents the essential elements of the Reid Technique - in fact, he includes in his description of the technique statements made to the suspect by the investigator that are clearly inappropriate and in violation of multiple court decisions. We address many of these misrepresentations in one of our Investigator Tips - What Exactly is The Reid Technique of Interrogation, which you can access on our website at http://www.reid.com/educational_info/r_tipsprint.html?serial=1309864251267367.

One note of interest, Dr. Leo suggests that an interrogator suggesting to the suspect in a homicide case that he may have acted in self-defense or that the shooting may have been an accident constitutes a coercive technique - the courts disagree.

In the recent September 2011 case of People v. Batiste (Sept. 2011), the Curt of Appeal, 1st District, Div. 3, California, the defendant claimed that his confession was coerced because it was the product of deception or implied promises of leniency by the officers. From the court's opinion:

"Batiste argued in the trial court that the officers made an implied promise of leniency when they suggested he might have acted in self-defense. That argument lacked merit. Here, as in People v.. Carrington (2009) 47 Cal.4th 145, 171, "suggestions that the ... homicide might have been an accident, a self-defensive reaction, or the product of fear, were not coercive; they merely suggested possible explanations of the events and offered defendant an opportunity to provide the details of the crime. This tactic is permissible. [Citation.] Moreover, any benefit to defendant that reasonably could be inferred from the substance of [the officer's] remarks was ' " 'merely that which flows naturally from a truthful and honest course of conduct,' " ' because the particular circumstances of a homicide can reduce the degree of culpability, and thus minimize the gravity of the homicide or constitute mitigating factors in the ultimate decision as to the appropriate penalty. [Citation]."
09/19/2011Why Offenders Confess - new article published by Reid VP Louis Senese
In the October 2011 issue of Blue Line magazine (published in Canada), our company Vice President, Louis Senese, has published an article entitled, Why Offenders Confess. Here are some excerpts from the article:

Understanding the many roads to success

Threats and promises work in obtaining admissions, such as "Tell me you did this and you'll keep your job" or "Tell me you did this or you're going to jail right now I have friends on the inside that owe me, get it?" are illegal. The obvious problem with these statements is that they may cause an innocent individual to admit to crimes they have not committed. To properly obtain a legally acceptable confession, such tactics must obviously be avoided.

The question then becomes, what would legally persuade a guilty offender to confess? In my three plus decades of experience and our firm's six decades of practice we have observed 10 primary factors that contribute to a suspect's decision to admit one's wrongdoing. They are not mutually exclusive and, in fact, several may simultaneously affect a decision to confess. Understanding them will help investigators elicit legally acceptable co-offenders.
Click here for the complete article
09/12/2011The International Investigative Interviewing Research Group founded in 2007
The International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG) was founded at the University of Teesside in collaboration with the Norwegian Police University College, Oslo and later, with the Centre for Forensic Linguistics, Aston University. It brings together academics and practitioners from around the world who research investigative interviewing of victims, witnesses, and suspects of crime. A major benefit of the group is that it promotes links between academics and practitioners, helping to focus research directly onto real-world problems and set research agendas. The iIIRG is open to all professionals involved in investigative interviewing who can contribute to this complex and intriguing area of research.

Here are links to their Bulletin publications:
Their website is http://www.iiirg.org/.
09/12/2011You Gentlemen truly are an important asset in the Global War on Terrorism.
To the Fine Gentlemen of John E. Reid & Associates,

I attended your Basic and Advanced Course in Anchorage, AK under the superb instructing abilities of Mr. Mike Adamec. His ability to convey the themes used within the Reid Technique combined with his professional somewhat self depricating humor remains with me today and I believe it shall always. I am currently assigned to Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as the Collection Operations Manager. I utilize the Reid Technique wherever possible throughout my Interrogations conducted here on the island. Anatomy of Interrogation Themes sits next to me at my desk. I just wanted to say thanks and I look forward to attending another seminar whenever I return stateside. You Gentlemen truly are an important asset in the Global War on Terrorism. Thank you.

The quickest way to the Truth, is to Reid between the lines....

SFC Jesse Duke Lenard
JTF GTMO
J2 HOC
09/01/2011Sign up to receive our Newsletter and Investigator Tips
We publish a quarterly newsletter which typically features a number of legal updates, and every two months we publish an Investigator Tip. When these items are published we email them to all of those who have signed up to receive our email communications. Here are examples of the email version of our May/June 2011 Investigator Tip (Interviewing Witnesses) and the July/August Tip (What is the Reid Technique?)
Click Here if you would like to sign up to receive our emails.
09/01/2011Delaware Health and Social Services extolls the benefits and value of Reid Training
In May of this year we presented our three day training program on The Reid Technique of Interviewing and Interrogation for the Delaware Health and Social Services Division of Adult Protective Services. We recently received a letter from the Division Administrator who related the favorable experience that they had in using the techniques that they leaned in the training to solve cases, concluding with the statement that:

"This Reid Technique of Interviewing and Interrogation worked perfectly for the social worker. Your training gave my staff the tools and confidence to obtain a positive outcome to the case.

Again, thank you for bringing this valuable training to the State of Delaware."
Click here for the complete letter.
Click Here to view earlier "What's New"