Interviewing witnesses and victims

Abstract

This chapter describes a typical police interview of a cooperative witness. It also describes a scientifically based interviewing protocol that has been developed to enhance witness recall: the cognitive interview (CI). The CI has been tested many times, in both laboratory studies and in real-world investigations and describes these validation studies, with special attention to police reactions to conducting CI interviews. More recent laboratory research examining the CI can be grouped into three areas, namely: effectiveness of the CI with different populations; effectiveness of the CI under different witness behavioural states or traits; and relationship between the CI and reality monitoring. The chapter focuses on the CI procedure because it is more encompassing than the others and it has been the focus of extensive scientific testing. Witnesses, and especially victims, are often asked to give detailed descriptions of intimate, personal experiences to police officers who are complete strangers.

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