ch. 3 - psychoplogy of police investigations

police interrogations in north america

• confession has to be backed up by some other form of evidence

police interrogation

• police interview a suspect

• gathering evidence and obtaining a confession

physical coercion

• used to extract confession (old)

• less frequient

• replaced with psychologically based interrogation techniwues

mr. big

• outside interrogation room

• undercover officers posing as members of a criminal organization

• lure suspect into gang

• interviewed by ‘Mr. Big’ but dirt is needed

• once confession is given, it is used against the suspect in trial

reid model

• used to extract a confession

three-part proess of reid model

1. gather evidence related to crime and interview witnesses and victims

2. conduct nonaccusatorial interview of suspect to assess deception

3. conduct accusatorial interrogation of the suspect if they are perceived to be guilty

• 9 step procedure follows

nine-step procedure in reid model: steps 1-3

• suspect confronted with guilt

• allow suspect to rationalize or excuse crime

• interrogator interrupts statements of denial

nine-step procedure in reid model: steps 4-6

• interrogator overcomes supects’ objections to charges

• ensure they have the suspects attention

• interrogator exhibits smypathy and understanding

nine-step procedure in reid model: steps 7-9

• suspect is offered explanations for the crime

  • self-incrimination is easier to achieve

• suspect accepts responsibility for crime

• interrogator gets written confession

minimization techniques

• soft sell tactics

• used by police interrogators

• provide suspect with moral justification for the crime

maximization techniques

• scare tactics

• convey interrogators belief that the suspect is guilty

• denails will fail

• confident → hopeless

use of reid in actual interrogations

• not really used in practice

• cops dont use core components of reid

• few coercive strategies in interrogation

problems with reid

• ability to detect deception

• investigator bias

• coercive/siggestive nature of interrogation practices → false confessions

deception detection

• detecting when someone is being deceptive

• little reearch to show that police are more skilled at this

laws in canada

• rights of suspects are in the charter of rights and freedoms

  • rights to silence and legal counsel

investigator bias

• bias when police officers begin interrogation believing suspect is guilty

• leads to coercive interrogations

interrogaters with guilty expectations would (6):

• asked more questions

• higher frequency of interrogation techniques

• judged more suspects

• more pressure on suspec

interrogation practices and the courts

• judge muat consider whether the confession was made voluntarily

  • whether defendent was competent

r. v. oickle

• confessed to 7 counts of arson

• promised psychiatric help if he confessed

• minimized severity

• promised to spare his girlfrined

4- point framework for a confession to be voluntary

• must consider whether police made threats or promises

• look for an atmosphere of oppression

• if suspect was competent

• degree of police trickery used

alternative to reid model

• peace model

peace acronym

• planning and preperation

• engage

• account

• closure

• evaluation

what is the peace model

• framework for conducting police interrogations

• conversation management

conversation management

• encourages info gathering over

false confessions

• elicited in response to a demand for a confession

• intentionally fabricated or not based on actual knowledge of facts

retracted confessions

• suspect declaring the confession they made is false

disputed confessions

• confessions disputed at trial

• does not mean it is false

• legal technicialities

• disputes confession was ever made

frequency of false confessions

• difficult to determine if confession is actually false

types of false confessions

• coerced internalized

• coerced compliant

• voluntary false confession

voluntary false confession

• someone voluntariy confesses to a crime they did not commit

• no elicitation from police

reasons for voluntary false confessions (4)

• desire for notoriety

• person unable to distinguish fact from fiction

• need to make up for feelings of guilt

• desire to protect somebody from harm

  • ex. jon benet

coerced compliant false confessions

• suspect confesses to a crime

• they know they did not commit it

• coercive interrogation tactics

reasons for coerced compliant confessions

• escape further interrogation

• gain promised benefit

• avoid threatened punishment

  • ex. r. v. m.j.s.

coerced internalized false confessions

• individuals confess to a crime they did not commit

• exposed to highly suggestible questioning

• end up believing they committed the crime

reasons for coerced-internalized false confessions

• substance abuse

• impariment in brain function

• inability to seperate fact from fiction

• poor mental state

false confessions in the lab

• computer crash experiment

• key that would crash computer even without eliciation from participant

compliance

• going along with demands made

computer crash study - results

• many accepted responsibility even though they were innocent

internalization

• participant accepted blame for crime

• even thouhg they did not commit crime

confabulation

• reporting events that never haooened

consequences of false confessions

• convict innocent person of crime

• consequences for police

why people believe false confession

• jurors dont believe someone would falsely confess

• people cannot distinguish between true and false confessions

• false confessions are similar to true confessions

criminal profiling

• technique

• identifying major personality and behavioral characteristics of an individual

• analysis of crimes they have commited

purpose of criminal profiling (4)

• set traps to flush out offenders

• threatening note should be taken seriously

• give advice on how to interrogate suspect

• hhow to break down defendants in cross-examinations

jack the ripper

• first criminal profile

• police surgean engaged ina form of criminal profiling

vicllas

• developed by rcmp

• help collect and analyze info on serious crimes in canada

linkage blindness

• inability of police to link crimes to each other

• important details differ based on officers

investigative psychology

• david canter

• profiling → scientific practice

how is a criminal profile constructed

• little known about profiling process

• different methods

deductive criminal profiling

• prediction of an offender’s background

• from analysis of evidence left at crime schene

• logic

inductive criminal profiling

• prediction of an offenders background from comparison of that offnders crime with similar crimes committed

• offenders share similar traits

organized-disorganizd model

• used by fbi

• crime scenes and backgrounds of serial offenders are either organied-disorganized

organized model

• well-planned

• controlled

disorganized model

• impulsive

• chaotic

investigative psych approaches to profiling

• rely on previosuly solved cases

• more emphasis on testing validity of categories

• degree of linkage between crime scenes

four clusters for search strategies

• hunters

• poachers

• trollers

• trappers

hunters

• seek victims close to their home

poachers

• travel long distance to find victims

trollers

• encounter victims during regular routine

trappers

• put themseles in situations where they have access to preferred victims

three clusters for victim selction

• specific physical features

• child and adolescent victims with specific features

• no preferred type of victim

three clusters of approach behaviors

• opportunistic cons

• home intruder

• non-violent persuasion

opportunistic cons

• use a ruse to approach victims

home intruder

• forces their way into the home

non-violent persuasion

• try and get close to familiar victims

three clusters for actual assault

• violence and control

• attempt

• persuasion and sexual

violence and control

• verbal and physical force

attempt

• offenders use little physical force

• verbally threaten and cease the attack if the victim resisted

persuasion and sexual

• persuasive tsctics but no force

• attention on sexual acts

three clusters for background characteristics

• socially competent

• antisocial generalist

• sexually deviant

validity of criminal profiling - negatives

• based on theory

• lack support

• vague

• no better than untrained individuals

classic trait model

• determinants of behavior are stable-internal

key assumptions in criminal profiling

• offendera have stable fashion across crimes they commut

• relations exist between way offenders commit crimes

geographic profiling

• uses crime scene locations

• predict most likely area where offender resides

• yorkshire ripper → first time it was used

geographic profiling systems

• use math models of offender spatial behavior

• make predictions about unknown serial offenders

• find out where they reside