INTRODUCTION
1.
An interrogation is the questioning of a person who is believed to be guilty of
a crime, to be an accomplice to a crime, or to be withholding information directly
pertaining to a crime; without it, very little evidence is developed for use in
court.
Interrogation serves to answer the basic questions of any investigation:
the who, what, where, when, and why.
2.
The purposes of an interrogation are to:
a. Ascertain the facts of a crime.
b. Develop information that will enable you as a special agent (SA) to gain
independent testimony and physical evidence to prove the truth of an admission or a
confession.
c. Get the truth from a lying, evasive, or reluctant witness, false accuser,
or other uncooperative person whose information could lead to the solution of a
crime.
d. Learn the identity of an accomplice to the crime and/or the details of any
criminal plan or scheme.
e. Get a confession or admission to a certain crime.
f. Get information about other crimes, but investigate separately - stick to
the subject.
g. Recover the fruits of a crime.
PART A: TECHNIQUES
1.
Whom to Interrogate. Interrogate a person who is believed to have information
pertaining to a crime.
Avoid interrogating any person who can be successfully
interviewed.
2.
Preparing for the Interrogation. Base your plan on the facts of the case and
the known background information.
Statements of the victim and witnesses, in
addition to physical evidence, will help you to reconstruct the crime mentally.
This will help you to anticipate some of the facts which you may obtain during the
interrogation.
Based on the known information, prepare a formal outline of the case. List the
main points with all supporting statements or evidence; the outline should also
contain the questions that you intend to ask.
3.
Psychological Factors.
You can enhance your advantage by consideration of the
following:
a. Time of Interrogation.
A person
suspected of a crime should be
interrogated as soon as possible
after the
report of the incident, but only
MP1016
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