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Cops Improve Interrogation Skills

New state mandate requires videotaping homicide investigations

This story ran on nwitimes.com Wednesday, June 29, 2005 12:29 AM CDT
by Mema Ayi



CALUMET CITY | A group of police officers are learning techniques this week to help identify the guilty and eliminate the innocent, a skill that will become especially important when interrogations and interviews are required by law to be videotaped.

The three-day training course is expected to refine investigator's interview techniques in preparation for a state mandate requiring videotaping in all homicide investigations.

The law takes effect July 18.

Most of the 16 in the class are investigators and are skilled in interrogations and interviews, Calumet City Police Chief Pat O'Meara said.

"It doesn't change anything we do," O'Meara said. "This is just to refine and hone our skills."

Lou Tessmann, a retired Waukegan deputy police chief, led the 3-day course and offered the group tips on how to improve their interview techniques, hone interrogation skills, read body language and streamline investigations.

Even without the cameras, Tessmann's techniques will improve chances of getting a confession out of someone who's guilty and clearing the innocent, he said.

Tessmann said that he expects the state mandate on videotaping will boost morale among law enforcement statewide, since any accusation of wrongdoing will have a videotape backup.

"(Videotaping) is not because we don't trust the police. It's because everybody's saying they don't trust the police," Tessmann said. "This will build our character and our self esteem. When someone says we're doing bad things, we can say, 'Look at the tape.' "

The officers learned to observe body language while interrogating suspects to determine whether or not someone was involved in a crime.
The officers are learning to ask critical questions to increase their chances of prosecuting the right person.

"When people get nervous, they do certain things," O'Meara said.
People who are accused of crimes they have not committed tend to take control of an interview as their denials get stronger over time, Tessmann said.

Sixty percent of communication is behavior, Tessmann said.

"Innocent people do one thing; the guilty do another," Tessmann said. "I want to eliminate innocent people. But, we want to identify the guilty."

In Tuesday's class, Tessmann suggested officers not let their egos get in the way during interrogations. When both the interviewer and suspect are calm, chances are greater for a confession, Tessmann told the class.

"As (the suspect) calms down, you re-accuse," Tessmann said.

He told the officers that anything they fill out during an investigation can be subpoenaed. He also reminded the group that while polygraph results are not admissible in court, what suspects say and do during an interview or during a polygraph exam can be used in court.

Officers learned this week to observe body language of suspects, but will also will have to be mindful of their words and actions, O'Meara said.

"Every word, every sentence will be scrutinized in court," O'Meara said.




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