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    The Art of Investigative Interviewing
    The Art of Investigative Interviewing
    The Art of Investigative Interviewing
    Ebook390 pages4 hours

    The Art of Investigative Interviewing

    By Inge Sebyan Black

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    About this ebook

    The Art of Investigative Interviewing, Third Edition can be used by anyone who is involved in investigative interviewing. It is a perfect combination of real, practical, and effective techniques, procedures, and actual cases. Learn key elements of investigative interviewing, such as human psychology, proper interview preparation, tactical concepts, controlling the interview environment, and evaluating the evidence obtained from the interview. Inge Sebyan Black updated the well-respected work of Charles L. Yeschke to provide everything an interviewer needs to know in order to conduct successful interviews professionally, with integrity, and within the law. This book covers the myriad factors of an interview — including issues of evidence, rapport, deception, authority, and setting — clearly and effectively. It also includes a chapter on personnel issues and internal theft controls.
    • Provides guidance on conducting investigative interviews professionally and ethically
    • Includes instructions for obtaining voluntary confessions from suspects, victims, and witnesses
    • Builds a foundation of effective interviewing skills with guidance on every step of the process, from preparation to evaluating evidence obtained in an interview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherElsevier Science
    Release dateDec 27, 2013
    ISBN9780124115835
    The Art of Investigative Interviewing
    Author

    Inge Sebyan Black

    Inge Sebyan Black, CPP, CFE, CEM is the CEO of Security Risk, LLC. She has spent over 42 years in corporate security management, specializing in workplace violence, risk assessments, investigations and emergency management. Certified by FEMA and the State of MN as a Certified Emergency Manager she also attended DOJ training in WMD/COBRA from an appointment by President Clinton. She has held her private investigator license in both the United States and Canada since 1997. Inge authored the book, “The Art of Investigative Interviewing, 3rd ed.” as well as chapters in over 10 books on Security Management, Hiring the Right Fit, Officer Safety, Domestic Abuse, Rape on College Campuses, Workplace Violence as well as others. Inge was presented with the Karen Marquez award in 2014 for her achievements in Physical Security. She was appointed Council Vice President for ASIS International Councils, overseeing ASIS Councils in 2018 and continues to serve. In 2019, Inge entered the IT side of security and is currently working in Information Security/Cyber for a Fortune 100 Company.

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      The Art of Investigative Interviewing - Inge Sebyan Black

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      Preface

      This wonderful book, The Art of Investigative Interviewing, is a classic and timeless reference work that belongs in every investigator’s library. I am humbled and grateful to write the introduction for this new edition. Past editions have enriched my life and professional prowess. I am certain this new edition will do the same for you.

      Over my 40-plus years of experience as a network TV investigative reporter, major-market radio talk show host, and private investigator, I have interviewed a remarkable cross-section of society: presidents, senators, movie stars, NFL quarterbacks, Mafia hit men, Ku Klux Klansmen, skid-row drunks, Middle Eastern terrorists, captains of Industry, union leaders, professional deadbeats, illegal migrant workers, destitute welfare mothers, ordinary moms and pops, and criminals of every description. Most of these interview subjects had something to hide. My job was to ferret out their secrets to support TV news reports or courtroom litigation. I quickly learned that even the most cautious people will say damning things when skillfully questioned by a prepared and professional interviewer.

      I learned how to do investigative interviews the hard way—through daily practice and lots of trial and error in newsrooms and on the streets, under the mentoring of tough-nosed editors and hard-boiled private eyes. I wish The Art of Investigative Interviewing had been available when I started my career, because it would have prevented many errors and humiliating embarrassments I experienced along the way. Believe me, there’s nothing like bungling an interview on live TV to cut you down to size in a hurry!

      I heartily recommend this book to both the novice and veteran interviewer. With the proliferation of pop psychology fads in our media and colleges, it is remarkably difficult to find solid information on interviewing techniques that is both time-tested and reliable. The information revealed in The Art of Investigative Interviewing is worth its weight in gold, and no successful investigator can ever afford to stop learning.

      I have learned repeatedly throughout my career that every investigation is only as good as the information it gathers and you can never ignore the human factor. Though an enormous number of facts can be determined through examination of written records and physical evidence, the information from human sources is always of critical importance to provide us with the full truth of events. Interviewing is a form of communication and evidence-gathering. Getting accurate and truthful information out of people is always a challenge, even for the most highly trained investigative interviewer.

      This book will help you learn how to develop and discover the human intelligence information that solves cases. Furthermore, learning investigative interviewing skills will help you in all aspects of your personal and professional life, because the techniques will help you distinguish fact from fiction and give you a competitive edge over others.

      The job of an investigative interviewer is tough under the best of circumstances. The mission is to have a structured conversation that elicits information useful to establishing facts and determining culpability from interview subjects who are often evasive, reluctant, or hostile. It is an art to persuade any person to let us into his or her mind at the critical moments of an event so that we can get an insider’s view of the action. The best investigative interviewers allow the person to talk about himself and describe a situation step by step from his own perspective and to talk about how he overcame obstacles along the way, all while guiding him into disclosing significant facts or admitting culpability he would otherwise conceal.

      In my experience, a good investigative interview yields information that can be divided into hard and soft categories. Hard information stated in an interview consists of the simple facts that often can be independently corroborated to help build a case. But interviews that generate only those facts usually lack richness and depth.

      Often more important is the soft information of human experience revealed during an interview, the complex tapestry of personal dramas, emotions, intentions, thoughts, reactions, values, and degrees of commitment or determination. It is the soft information that helps us establish motive and develops the color that provides us with a truer understanding of any event or situation. In trying to ascertain fact, there is no substitute for observing human behavior.

      There is an old Chinese adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. That is true. But I learned in TV news that a videotape is worth a million words when it shows the body language of a smirk or arched eyebrow, the physical and verbal gyrations of an agonized confession, a vocal tone of arrogance or sarcasm, or the hysterical sobbing of an interviewee repenting their criminal deeds. There is no substitute for an effective investigative interview of a human being.

      Many years ago, I investigated a powerful politician who was lining his pockets with graft and was introducing legislation that benefited his hidden personal financial interests. The documents I collected laid out the facts in great detail. But it was the TV investigative interview, in which the politician nonchalantly and flippantly admitted his misconduct without any visible remorse, that told the full story and gave it life. His political career fizzled quickly after the TV audience saw and heard his performance.

      So what are the traits of truly great investigative interviewers? They have constant curiosity and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. They prepare for an interview by researching in advance as much information as possible. They know what the answers to questions are likely to be before they are asked. They know that asking obviously well-informed questions helps create a sense of intimacy and often throws the people being questioned off balance by signaling that the interviewer is not to be taken lightly. They know how to quickly establish rapport and personal chemistry with the interview subject, then ask a blend of both open-ended and pointed questions with impeccable and precise timing while carefully listening to the responses to achieve successful results. They are excellent listeners of the spoken word and observers of unspoken body language. They can be simultaneously both gentle and tough questioners. They have a taste for going for the jugular while instinctively knowing when to back off or shift gears if the interview takes unexpected and useful turns. And they know how to keep their own emotions in check while hearing the most graphic and disturbing

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