Reid technique

The Reid method, english Reid Technique is a method of interrogation to interview any person suspected of a crime. It was developed in 1948 by its namesake, John E. Reid, a Chicago police officer. The name Reid Method is a registered trademark of the company he founded that offers today training in the method.

Method

The Reid method, whose primary purpose is to obtain a confession can be divided into three phases. In the first phase, a behavior analysis - Interview (BAI ) is carried out with the suspect in a kind of pre-survey. On the basis of a standardized questionnaire is trying to provoke striking physical and psychological reactions of the suspects harmless and so-called verhaltensprovozierende questions, and subsequently analyzed with another person to determine credibility or suspected complicity. Should be assessed while the registered behavior is categorized with respect to at Reid appearance, attitude, verbal and nonverbal behavior of truthfully testifying parties and deceptive suspects, so that on the basis of these criteria the suspect. This is the one to decide whether the suspicion is maintained and to transition into phase two, or whether the suspect should first be discarded. On the other psychological vertices are determined by the behavior analysis that can be strategically utilized for the survey in phase two.

In the second phase, the actual hearing takes place, which is divided into nine stages:

  • Step 1: Direct confrontation with the deed. The suspect is going to clarify that the police have irrefutable evidence against him. He will now soon be given an opportunity to explain himself.
  • Level 2: There should the suspect be given the opportunity to assign the responsibility for the act of a third person or to cause justifying circumstances. It should he be given the opportunity to excuse the act or justify. The prepared for this purpose by the officials Tatszenarien are also intended to identify the main culprits in a larger Offender.
  • Level 3: The suspect should be prevented from denying his guilt. The theory behind this: the more often the suspect says: " It was not me ", the more solidified its resistance, and the more difficult it is to obtain a confession.
  • Level 4: At this point, the suspect often tried to explain why he can not be the culprit. This call should then be, if possible, conducted in the direction of a confession.
  • Level 5: attention, so that the suspect is receptive.
  • Level 6: The suspect is now quieter and is ready to shoot. The Interrogator is now able to offer alternatives. If the suspect cries, should be derived from an admission of guilt.
  • Level 7: Two alternatives to Tatabläufen to be offered, one of which less socially acceptable than the other. Is the suspect the less onerous alternative to ( " Yes, it's true, it was an accident, I did not want to kill ...") is a proven complicity. At this point, however, a complicity is often still denied.
  • Level 8: Sets the suspect is a confession, he shall be made ​​to repeat it before witnesses. The confession is to be supported by confirmatory information on Tatmerkmalen.
  • Level 9: The confession should be logged or recorded and signed off by the suspects.

The third phase is the written recording of the confession.

Criticism

The Reid method is examined critically by defense lawyers and experts in criminal law in Europe. It leads to a high rate of false confessions at suspects who can the police interrogation methods provide little because of their personality. For this reason, this method is prohibited in several European countries, particularly when interviewing children and adolescents. In Germany it violates provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since it is already working conceptually with deceptions and threats and policy obligations disregarded.

Application in Germany

In the Reid method several German law enforcement agencies have been trained. So tested the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior in 1999 this method and led her paid training through speakers at the firm Reid in the Criminal Investigation a. It was loud notes at today critically annotated explanations of criminal cases (eg the case Peggy Knobloch ) used.

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