THE ART AND SCIENCE OF INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWING

We the Professional Private Investigators must understand the key words involved i.e Art, Investigation,Interview,Science and Interrogation as we procure 75% of total information from these words which become our tools.For the purposes of this write-up,let us confine to the meanings which really depict our profession.

ART means subjects of study concerned with human culture or ‘a skill’.

INVESTIGATION means to ‘carry out a systematic inquiry so as to establish the truth of something and also to carry out research into a subject’.

INTERVIEW means a meeting in which someone asks questions about work,observations or opinions of the person on particular episodes,happenings and incidents.It is aimed at extracting the truth from the person being interviewed.

These three words outline the scope of our expertise, enterprise and focus.The other two words have different meanings for the official agencies who are empowered to ask questions.

‘Science’ of Interrogation: The word ‘Science’ generally connotes study and knowledge of the physical and natural world based on observation and experiment.It also means ‘a body of knowledge on any subject’.Even if it is the science for law-enforcement agencies to interview for investigative purposes,the underlined words Study and Knowledge based on observation are arts to be developed by the professional investigator.We have to selectively chance upon the identity,circumstances and observations of the person who can dish out information on the subject of our quest.We are not authorised to arrange, organize or  direct such a person by way of authority to accord interview.Thus, the powers vested in law-enforcement agencies to ensure attendance of witnesses are not available to Professional Private Investigators.They have to convert these powers in an artful manner to seek an interview,run accidentally into the witness but as per design so as to make the interviewer acceptable by the witness for conversations in a very casual manner.The ‘science’ (authority) has to be converted into ‘art’ of creating a situation to interact with the potential power-house of information.The word ‘Interrogation’ is absolute rather than abstract.Under Section 161 Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 the examination of witnesses by police is permissible to orally examine any person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case.Under this section (161 Cr.P.C)such person shall be bound to answer truly,all questions relating to such case,put to him by such officer,other than questions,the answers to which would have a tendency to expose him to a criminal charge or to a penalty or forfeiture.There are limitations imposed in the section to the effect that it is not to be ‘signed’ by the person interrogated and that it is not admissible as evidence,if signed.

What is Investigative Interviewing?

It is a complex form and a powerful tool for gathering informations from interviews.It is meant to clarify the unclear,connect facts that seem disconnected,challenge contradictions and obtain confessions or admissions as part of evidence to be adduced in courts.

Human Psychology - In understanding personality type of witness:

In delving into the minds of people,selected for investigative interviews,we must completely re-orient our basic understanding of human behaviour.The criminal law,just reflects the history of the emotional attitudes of man throughout ages of evolution of society.But to study human behaviour we must know what the psychology of human beings is.It can be defined as ‘the science of human and animal behaviour: including the application of this science to human problems’. But the question is why the word ‘behaviour’ rather than ‘mind’ or ‘thoughts’ or ‘feelings’ in the definition of psychology.Behaviour means anything a person or animal does that can be observed.Behaviour,unlike mind, thoughts or feelings can be observed,recorded and studied.Internal mental processes manifest themselves through their external behaviour which can be seen,recorded and studied.Behaviour is the resultant action of human being on account of thought processes and mental turmoil.The application of knowledge is an art, a skill,or a knack for doing things which is acquired by study,practice and experience.With practice,we the Private Investigators,can make use of psychology,in dealing with witnesses and in interviewing them properly.Every human being is different and he/she needs to be treated differently.

We must understand that personality of a human being is governed by three dynamic systems.These are ‘id’, ‘ego’ and ‘super ego’.The ‘id’ consists of instinctual,sexual and aggressive drives.It is the sub-stratum of personality from which all other systems develop.It operates according to the ‘pleasure principle’ by seeking tension reduction through the discharge of impulses.

        

The ‘ego’ develops as a central system which seeks drive satisfaction through contact with reality.The ‘ego’ functions to control the impulsiveness of the ‘id’ in order that the drive satisfaction can be obtained but within the limits imposed/on the individual by the society.The ‘ego’ has control over all cognitive and intellectual functions.The ‘super ego’ is the moral element of personality.It represents the totality of internalized demands of parents and of society as a whole.As Sigmund Freud had formulated these concepts,a lot of appreciation and also condemnation has come on record.But the fact remains that a witness has to be tackled very tactfully according to personality traits of individuals.

Practical Application:

Investigative interviews are the back-bone of all contentions- for or against the processes of law.

Speech and Action seldom faithfully portray the character.They only indicate the nature of controls each man sets upon his basic character.As such external behaviour,controlled answers and narrations could be deceptive apparently.But the body language when practicing deception betrays a man’s inside turmoil while doctoring the facts and fiction or vice-versa.Unspoken words and gestures become verbal for a trained eye.An interviewer must fully understand the ‘Non-verbal communication’.It is a language by itself.Signs like down-cast eyes,roaming glances,nervous ticks on face,quivering lips,clasping and un-clasping of hands,moving legs even while sitting,chattering of teeth,sloused shoulders or expanding chest to depict bravado,etc are to be closely observed by the interviewer to read his physical attributes or discomforts in speaking to you.Sweat on the face and trembling fingers also speak about inbuilt tension and conflict of thought-process.

For interviewing a subject one has to be very observant and after noticing obvious discomforts,soothing language touching upon other topics have to be adopted.Make him comfortable and at ease to extract truth of the matter,seen,perceived or felt by him about the events which are being verified. He could have been a chance witness to observe the incident,or he could be an interested witness planted to perceive divergent exposures.

Following tips would be of help:

1. Learn the art of interview – First step is to put the person at ease by being courteous,non-authoritative and easy going casual attitude of self.Win over his confidence at the initial stage of meeting,shaking hands and offering a comfortable seat.Actually in day-to-day interactions the art and science of hypnosis is being practiced by all and sundry.We assume roles.Different roles and attitudes for different persons and different relationships.Salesman uses hypnosis,lovers also lure through this art,orators hypnotise the crowd,even ‘lorry’ or ‘lullaby’ is a form of hypnosis.

2. Master the facts – Apply checks and balances in mastering facts available.Examine the documents thoroughly.Every fact should be on tips and no consultation of notes or papers should be there while interviewing the subject.Start by asking questions not directly concerned with him and just take him off-guard.

3. Talk about other persons – Talk about persons known to him/her who are connected on social,domestic or professional fronts.Observe body language while he/she is answering casual questions and mark the difference when he is put specific question about the incident in issue.His off-guard reaction and his on-guard answers would reveal his personality.

4. Study his attire carefully – Observe whether his attire fits into his status,upbringing,his profession.Mark his shoes in particular and see whether they are polished properly,cleaned recently or bear wear and tear marks due to neglect.Take a mental note whether he has taken care of his attire or has he taken care to make a ‘presentation’ for the purpose of interview.Try to understand the mismatch.Where is the tell-tale mistake?

5. Master the art of reading body language – The art comes with experience and practice.It has to be learnt from experts.The dogs can read the body language of a man.They not only smell perspiration on account of fear or stealth,but they can also co-relate it with body language of furtive glances,stealth,slouch and other signals.Infants and small children have built in mechanism and radar system to make them react to strangers.We can cultivate the art of reading body language.Hopes,wishes,fears,anxieties,aspirations and expectations change the body language.Interviewer must consider these aspects to understand the personality of the subject of interview.

What people speak verbally may be different in meaning and connotations visible in the body language.And when there is difference in perception of the interviewer,there is the need to evaluate the subject in details.Why the difference? Why should the subject not be taken on face value? Is the make-believe expression contradictory to the truth of the matter?

The powerful ‘lingo of deception’ is the body language.You have only to understand the language properly.It is like a ball game.All right the first serve is a ‘fault’ and you have the second serve to hit.And if the second serve is proper,the ball gets hit by the opponent (the subject of interview).It would be a game of volleys,cross-court shots,net placements,over-head smashes.Both players are engaged in hood-winking the other by adopting different body postures in hitting the ball and scoring a point.Other should not anticipate the move and the body language has to be deceptive to put the interviewer on wrong foot.

6. Make believe strategy – When the subject of interview walks in,you just see him but you do not observe him (Sherlock Holmes).Are you attracted or distracted by the entry? Does he match your imagination of the personality? Or does he not measure up to your expectations? Does he carry himself well? Does he match the image he had created in your mind? Will he live upto your expectations in times to come? Is he to be taken on face value or should he be discarded forth with as not trustworthy? But you must give him a chance to measure upto your scale of calibrations.Just evaluate.

7. Looking,seeing and observing – Change the frames.The earlier frame of mind you conceived.A prospective and promising witness meets all criterion. Don’t just look at him.See him.Observe him totally.And what is the difference? An eye candy to look at may not be worth the bite.Just don’t bite into it.See it,smell it and observe it.Is it changing shape?Melting even before you put your warm lips to it? Are you required to consume it all at once so that it does not melt away and spoil your attire?Just because you bought it? No,it is not worth the price you paid for it.It would add up to your cost factor when you have to bear the laundry bill in cleaning your clothes on account of melted droppings.And then again to buy another candy to refresh your taste buds.So don’t just look but see and observe.A prospective witness has to be compared to the above situation.

Something that did not ring true though it sounded like true:

The difference between the spoken words and the understanding of those words what we perceive,means ‘non-verbal communication’ otherwise known as ‘body language’.If you understand it properly you can understand the lingo in proper perspective.

There are sometimes subtle – and sometimes not so subtle movements,gestures,facial expressions that indicate that something otherwise is meant than verbal communications.The way we talk,walk,sit and stand all say something about us.And whatever is happening inside can well be reflected on the outside.At times we say one thing yet our body language reveals something different.We have got to observe all signs of body-language and then judge the veracity of truth being spoken or being camouflaged.

Lying: We must observe details to arrive at any conclusion whether a person is lying,or not.Some of

the typical signs and signals of lying include:

·      Eyes maintain little or no eye contact,or there maybe rapid eye movements,with pupils constricted.

·      Hands or fingers infront of his or her mouth while speaking.

·      His or her body is physically turned away from you,or there are unusual/un-natural body gestures.

·      His or her breathing rate increases.

·      Complexion changes in colour around face or neck areas.

·      Perspiration increases.

·     Voice changes in pitch,stammering or throat clearing.

Remember that everyone’s personal body language is slightly different.Do not get confused with nervousness.Just probe.Further,ask more questions to determine whether the subject is lying or not.Keep a gradiented scale to make correct judgement.Do not presume that the witness would either deliberately lie or conceal facts till you have tested him on all parameters.

8. How to simplify the complex body-language – No two persons are exactly alike in appearance,mental make-up and the resultant personality and behaviour.How do we go to find the truth? We have to adopt technologies like X-Rays and MRI.X-Rays only make the bones opaque and present the picture of bones.Subject the witness to MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) which presents picture of muscles,tissues and nerves.

A confident,truthful witness would exhibit following attributes:

1. Posture: It is generally easy and balanced whether sitting or standing.Mark shoulders and hands in particular.

2. Eye contact: Direct and continuous without shifting and the facial expressions and voice would match with language of eyes.

3. Gestures: In sinc with verbal communication,it would be smooth flowing and emphatic.Mark arms and hands.

4. Speech: Natural and slow but audible and clear.No emotions of distress in the voice.Free flowing without undue pauses.

5. Tone of voice: Not with cutting edge but slow and clear.Pitch to match audibility.

A defensive person may exhibit different signs when interviewer is speaking to him.

The signs could be:

1. Facial Expressions are rigid, and unchanging.

2. Posture is not relaxed or balanced.He may not like to face you directly.Instead he would pose and project sideways.

3. Eye contact may break or wave and the facial expressions may not match expressions in the eyes.

4. Arms and hands may create obstruction between interviewer’s eyes and subject’s eyes.

5. Tone of voice would be flat and low without weight of conviction in words.

Such like defensive person has to be put at ease by relaxing your own attitude and by modulating your own language.Defensive person is not necessarily a person with guilt conscious.The interviewer must learn to differentiate and evaluate properly.

A deceptive and unreliable witness’s body language would generally exhibit following signs:

1. Facial Expressions either explosive in trying to convince or too brief to convey and thereby going back into shell.

2. Posture would be either towering and overbearing or too slumped with sudden changes in the two stances.

3. Eye contact would be minimal.Diverting and downcast eyes would be indicative of evasion on his part,skipping direct queries.Would look here,there and everywhere(watch,mobile,passers-by,photographs on wall-anything else).

4. Arms and hands would generally be rigid,holding files,folders,arms of chair,railings rather too tightly.

5. Tone of voice swinging between two extremes of loudness or whispering with unmatching gestures,gesticulations and swearing.

However,there are no hard and fast classifications to interpret body language.But the body language which rings alarm bells in the mind of interviewer needs to alert him about the truthfulness or reliability factor of a witness.

Why Interviews: To uncover the truth about reconstructing a crime,event or happening.Also constructing a true picture of a person or situation.

Who to Interview: Defendants,plaintiffs,witnesses,victims,suspects,subjects of background investigations and experts.

Interviewing Skills: The interviewer must master a set of skills as:

·      Anticipating and meeting the needs of subjects of interview;

·      Building rapport with subject;

·      Asking right questions;

·      Active and attentive listening;

·      Interpreting non-verbal communications(body language);

·      Recognizing truth and deception;

·      Documenting the evidence after interviewing

All said and done interviewing a person by a professional private investigator is different from interrogation by police (witness or a suspect) in as much as the private investigator has no police powers to force an interview.He has to manage an interview through tactfulness rather than authority.The subject of interview has not to know that he is being questioned to ascertain a fact,an event or a circumstance.He can be cited as a witness thereafter depending upon his credentials and credibility.Police makes it obvious that the subject is under interrogation.There is an element of legal binding and authority for police.None for private investigator. Hence the need to be artful,skillful and truthful in examining a witness.

Aims and objectives of Investigative Interviews:

The foremost aim is to arrive at the truth of the matter under inquiry.Generally private investigators are engaged by clients to ascertain truth in the matter of relationships,business deals,property disputes,pre-matrimonial verfications, matrimonial discords,infidelity,deception,cheating or competitive business intelligence.There are subjects like pre-employment verifications,internal vigilance,corporate investigations,skip-tracing,IPR infringements and a lot of other personal and business matters.Private Investigator has to gather truthful and reliable information to be presented to the client.It is up to the client to settle his disputes on the basis of information provided by the private investigator.In the matter of litigation support,evidence collecting and corroborative witness accounts are essential ingredients.Yes investigative interviews do reveal most of the facts and are store-house of information.So,we must master the art of interviewing.

The basic concepts of interviewing a witness are:-

1. Acquire intricate knowledge about the subject,his upbringing,his traits,his personality in particular.

2. Never throw information casually so as to give out your line of thinking and expectations.

3. Do not divulge unconfirmed facts-this reduces your credibility and your hoax is called.

4. Do not consider the subject as transparent to you.Do not pose yourself as God knowing all the things about your subjects.Talk at level ground and do not assume supremacy.

Investigative Interviews:

Every interview is unique because the people and circumstances involved are always different.Different tools are to be used to tackle different persons. Interviews may vary in structure,character and approach. There are factors to be dealt with, i.e Resistance from the witness;Conflicting evidence as on record;Forgotten memories;Distortion of facts;Deception adopted;Kinesics or body language.

One must also keep in mind that any person being interviewed may fall into any of the following categories:-

·    The occasional liar;The habitual liar;The pathological liar;The malingerer ;The psychopath;The fear factors;The freeze reaction;Fight or flight response;Under stress responses.

There are four phases of interviews of witnesses.

They involve: Preparing for the interview;Planning the interview;Conducting the interview;Following up the revelations.

What is active listening?

The interviewer must understand both the verbal or non-verbal techniques in-

·      Seeking clarifications;Summoning facts;Allowing silence;Using eye contact;Using facial expressions and gestures;Using posture;Using personal space;Using vocal space such as volume,speed and pacing.

     There are two basic question types:-

·      Closed questions involving answers as ‘yes’ or ‘no’, names, addresses and telephone numbers.

·      Open questions usually begin with who,what,when,where,how and why.

 They can’t be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The question types could be: Reflective;Directive;Pointed;Indirect;Diversionary;Self-appraisal;Leading.

Common interviewing errors –

Try to avoid following mistakes commonly made by most of us:-

·      Interrupting the witness;Rapid-fire questioning;Hurrying the interview;Thinking of the next question while the current is being answered (failing to register the current reply);Poor sequencing of questions;Leading questions to expect answers as suggested in questions;Negative questioning (You don’t remember);Jumping to conclusions & assumptions;Getting hung up on irrelevant issues;Displaying anger;Talking down and ridiculing;Making judgemental comments;Showing personal prejudice;Throwing unverified facts as your definite knowledge – which to the knowledge of the person being interviewed is false,untruthful.

There are also specialised interviews like –

·      The telephonic interview;The impromptu interview;The victim interview;The child interview;The cognitive interview;The pre-employment interview;The polygraph examination;The random interview.

The interviewer has to adopt different methodologies and approach to interview different kinds of subject of interview.A uniform approach fails. Adoptation is the key word to tackle a witness of particular class.If you fail to adopt the methodology suitable for a particular type of witness you cannot succeed.

Attributes of an Interviewer:-

•        Conservative dress.
•        Respectful and neutral attitude.
•        Clear and unemotional language.
•        Supportive and comforting gestures.
•        Convincing attributes of the interrogator.

Questions to be asked:-

•        To start with casual conversations about all the subjects.
•        Personal details of the subject.
•       To question personality of the witness.
•        Non-involving questions.
•        Specific to the point when rapport is maintained.
•       Testing questions to counter-check truthfulness.
•       Sympathetic questions about circumstances of the subject.
•        Promising questions for generating confidence.
•      No hard and fast rules are to be followed.Assess the situation,the temperament of subject and frame a question.

·      Never put words in the mouth of witnesse’s. No suggestive questions should be put to get a desired answer.The real art of Investigative Interview is put to test in understanding the total personality of the person.This can only be done by in-depth verification and inquiries about the subject of interview.You must know about his family,his friends,his habits and some irrefutable instances in his life.His reputation,his character and his life style.If the witness is very important to establish a fact or to demolish a theory,the interviewer must spend some good time in ascertaining details of the witness.He has to be tackled accordingly.As and when the witness appears to be dodging or lying,some verified personal details about his past,friends or family(not related to the case)have to be thrown at him.He would be shocked about your study and would then co-operate more.Comforting a witness and confronting a witness at right time, is the art of interviewing.The truth would be blurted out by the witness.

V M PANDIT

CEO/MMC,VMP-AIIM