POLICE INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES AT 2 SOUTH LONDON POLICE STATIONS

This paper analyses the techniques used by police officers at two Sout h London Police Stations: Orpington and Peckham. Audio tapes of 161 po lice interviews were analysed with regard to their duration, type of t echniques employed, suspects' reactions, and the number of confessions obtained. The findings reveal that the great majority of the intervie ws are short, non-confrontational, and that exchanges are conducted wi th polite and compliant suspects. The Orpington suspects were signific antly more 'co-operative' than their Peckham counterparts which may re flect quite different social and demographic conditions. In only a fif th of the cases did the police employ any challenging tactics to quest ion the suspect's version of events. Overall, there were fewer coerciv e or manipulative tactics employed compared with earlier studies altho ugh the number of confessions or admissions obtained has remained rela tively constant. Recommendations are made for police interview trainin g to reflect these findings.