POLICE OFFICERS’ USE OF EVIDENCE IN SUSPECT INTERVIEWS: HOW AND WHY?

We examined how police officers interview suspects in a situation where they lacked information
about a critical phase of a crime, but possessed information on less critical phases. The specific focus
was the officers’ planned use of the available information to elicit admissions about the critical phase
of the crime. A survey was distributed to police officers (N = 69) containing a fictitious murder case
for which they were to prepare an interview with a suspect. The results showed that the investigators
planned to disclose the evidence more often in a strategic manner (obtaining the suspect’s statement
and exhausting alternative scenarios before revealing the evidence) than in a non-strategic manner
(revealing the evidence before requiring an explanation). The investigators’ most frequently reported
motivation behind using the evidence strategically was to obtain additional information about the
evidence disclosed, rather than to gather admissions about the critical phase for which they lacked
information. In other words, the evidence was disclosed strategically more often as an end in itself
than as means to an end. The results provide a deeper understanding of the police officers’ interview
strategies and add issues to a future research agenda.