Expert: Dick Rogers - 4/24/2009

Question
As a Lead Homicide detective, What skills do you use when interviewing a witness?
What body language, statements or comments are important to take note on?
And are there certain characteristics that make a detective more adequate?

Answer
Nina, I could answer your question for hours because there are myriad methods to use in dealing with specific suspects.  Generally, you take note of the persons frame of mind.  At times, they are very sure of themselves and at other times, falling apart.  If you have little items of evidence that only the suspect would know, you can inject them into the conversation to catch the suspects reaction.  Some of these would include items that would be very beneficial in a polygraph examination...for example...let's say a person was killed with a hammer and the detectives kept this information to themselves. If a suspect is being put on the polygraph at some point the examiner would ask a question out of the blue..."do you own a hammer?"  Most people would answer yes with no particular concern...it's a tool...however, it would generate a significant response on the part of the suspect.  Apart from the polygraph, detectives keep pretty much to the tone the suspect is setting.  If he/she is relatively composed, the detectives question in that manner. You try to find out the mental state of the person...or, what they consider important.  A very religious person would be more at ease being questioned by someone who lets it be known they consider religion an important facet of one's life.  And, of course, eventually, they would use the tenets of religion to ferret out information from the suspect.  You have heard of the Mutt and Jeff routine...it works sometimes...basically, one detective is very abrasive and almost threatening and the other is mild and kind and asks the offending detective to leave the room.  the suspect warms up the the kind detective and you can guess how it turns out.  Also, when interviewing a suspect involved in a very nasty murder...one which would cause most people to despise the suspect, you must come off as an understanding detective...not accusatory...the idea here is to solve the case and being subjective and showing it is not being productive.  As to your last question, I think that good detectives have had a "hard knocks" life in their earlier years...that is, they know how the world works and the people in it.  Most cops today have college education, but the real education needed for a good detective, occurs in real life...seeing how people act and what they do.  I hope this answers your inquiry.