An investigative interview is not a normal interview or an interrogation and presents an alternative approach to information gathering depending upon your industry (i.e. commercial vs. law enforcement).
For law enforcement, the investigative interview might eventually transition to the classic term of “interrogation”, whereas in a commercial setting, an interrogation would be unnecessary (brush up on the differences between an interrogation vs an interview so you never cross any lines during an interview).
In both settings, however, the aim of the interviewer is to elicit as much voluntary, truthful information as possible without making accusations or assumptions. However, this is not a standard conversation and the interviewer should take care how they approach their questions, what their body language is saying, and employ techniques to put the interviewee at ease to obtain the truth.
Getting Started with Investigative Interviews
Interview and Interrogation classes from Law-Tech Consultants cover the investigative interview process in-depth, with examples and real scenarios, so students can learn the effectiveness of each approach.
If you’re curious about investigative interviews, these sample questions and general approach can give an overview of how to handle investigative interviewing and how it helps in law enforcement, human resources, law departments, and more for many corporations.
Think your department could benefit from investigative interviewing? Ask about a personal training class today.
10 Questions to Ask During an Investigative Interview
1) Open Ended Questions
“Please tell me what you saw during the incident.”
Open-ended questions are a staple in investigative interviewing. You want your interviewee to feel open to share as much as possible. Open-ended questions are used to collect details while close-ended questions (aka Bipolar questions), requiring a “yes” or “no” answer, are used to identify truth and deception.
When using open-ended questions, let the interviewee speak freely, do not interrupt them, and allow them to fill the silence if they pause or take a moment. Remember, at all times, give them a chance to fully explain what they know, witnessed, or did.
2) Singular Questions
“Were there any witnesses during this event?”
Compound questions prompt an interviewee to answer multiple questions at once or give multiple details at once. You want to avoid questions that ask for two answers (“can you tell me where you were and what you were doing”).
Instead, focus on singular questions that prompt for only one answer. With singular questions, an interviewee is more likely to elaborate or provide more details. Using compound questions during an investigative interview will likely encourage the interviewee to shorten their answers, removing relevant details that could be important.
3) 5 W’s - Who, What, When, Where, Why
“Who was there?”
“What happened?”
“When did this go down?”
“Where was the accident?”
“Why were you there?”
The 5 W’s are a staple across almost any interview, but especially for investigative interviewing. Remember, investigative interviewing is all about getting the truth from witnesses, suspects, or involved parties. The best way to obtain details is to ask for them directly and clearly.
Whether you need to know the truth for your corporate human resource department or as part of a law enforcement investigation, the 5 W’s are critical to ensuring you have asked for the most important details to get a framework of the incident and where to go from there.
4) Witnesses and Documentation
“Is there any footage of this accident?”
As you conclude or move through the 5 W’s, always ask about witnesses and documentation. The “who” should cover witnesses, but you must also get any relevant information about them, like names, descriptions, or how they were acting.
Following any witness details, also ask for documentation when available. You never know when it could be revealed that someone was taking photos of the event, there was a security camera nearby, or someone put something in writing that could be further reviewed to help determine the truth in a situation.
5) Control Questions
“Have you ever taken something from the office that wasn’t yours?”
Control questions are important for any interview or investigation. With investigative interviewing, you are determining the truth of an accident or event through questioning and conversation. The best way to determine the truth of the information you are receiving is to create a baseline of morale from the person with whom you are speaking.
Control questions allow you to determine a person’s stance on related but minor incidents. Control questions in investigative interviewing should not be accusatory and should not be about the crime in question. It should determine a baseline for the individual to express what they have or have not been involved in before, but it should not be so serious as admitting to a crime or any other legal wrongdoing.
6) Motivation Inquiry
“Do you think there was a reason they would want to do that?”
Motive is critical in any investigation. Even when gathering baseline information, an interviewer wants to determine the “why” behind the action, accident, or crime.
When speaking with suspects, witnesses, or other involved parties, asking about motive can reveal more information and details that may not come up otherwise. This helps set a baseline for forming opinions of what really happened and who may have been involved.
7) Recall Questions
“Can you explain what time this all happened?”
Recall questions ask the interviewee to remember details of the event. While some questions are about general thoughts, motives, or related incidents, recall questions directly ask for details about the crime or event.
Recall questions in investigative interviewing don’t just help to establish details, they help to establish the credibility of the story. An interviewee who changes the time of day, the location, or even who was there or what happened could be an unreliable source. Remember, you are trying to establish the truth during an investigative interview using dialogue and conversational tools.
Tip: Do not be accusatory or make assumptions in your investigative interview; if you notice details changing, do not state “you said this earlier” or any other format, but keep the dialogue open and inquire about the details.
8) Ask About the Details
“What were the colors of the clothes the person was wearing?”
Going beyond the 5 W’s, details matter. Colors, makes and models of cars, objects, pronouns, adverbs, and so much more. As an interviewer, your job is to pay special attention to these and make sure you jot down the important details.
When note-taking, interviewees can sometimes become uncomfortable because they feel your writing might signify their disclosure of an important detail. To alleviate their concern, simply ask, “Do you mind if I take a few notes while we talk here today?” Doing so shows professionalism, courtesy, and will be well received by the interviewee to establish a foundation for a valuable investigative interview.
When no details are given, just ask. Asking about the details is a way to explore a bit deeper what happened during the events and what might be relevant when finding your suspect or uncovering the truth.
Tip: Just be careful in your wording of questions as failure to do so can reveal what you know, or don’t know, which could influence the interviewee’s response. For example, you should not ask, “What time did you and Joe drive off the parking lot?” In this question you revealed that you 1) know Joe was present and 2) you drove off the parking lot. Instead, ask “You said you were on the parking lot. Please, tell me more about that.”
9) Question the Timeline of Events
“Did this happen before or after the police were called?”
You’ve asked your “when” but do you have a complete timeline? As an investigative interviewer, you need to put together a complete timeline of what happened, before it happened, and in the aftermath.
During your interview, ask about the timeline as broadly as possible and then slowly hone in on the finer details if you don’t have a complete image of what happened and in what order. Don’t make statements, and don’t be accusatory, but simply ask your interviewee, “did this happen before or after” to both build your timeline and check their consistency in answers.
10) What are the Emotions of Those Involved
“How did it make you feel to witness this?”
Emotional questions are key to understanding your interviewee and the timeline of events. When asking how someone felt, why they responded the way they did, or what their reaction to something was, you gain a deeper understanding of the person you are talking to and why they may have been involved.
Remember, we oftentimes take action based on emotion and then justify our actions with logic. In other words, people don’t first think in a logical manner, “I’ll just go ahead and commit this heinous crime in front of all these witnesses.” Rather, people will act based upon emotion, commit the heinous act, then later justify their action with logic. Always focus on the emotion because that will help you better understand their motivation for committing an act.
Above all else, asking about the emotional state builds a rapport and establishes trust, so your interviewee is seen as a whole person and will respond as honestly as possible.
BONUS
11) Anything Else
“Is there anything else I should have asked you that perhaps, I should have asked about during this interview?”
No matter how thorough you are as an interviewer, there may always be something you missed. Give your interviewee a chance to add anything they want to the interview. This could prompt a new line of questioning, reveal details, or just uncover more about their involvement or emotional state.
Investigative Interviewing Tips
- Don’t be afraid to sit in silence and let your interviewee have time to think before their answers
- Have a friendly, yet professional, approach to your conversation
- Build rapport and let questions flow naturally
- Create a trustworthy first impression, you want to establish a connection you can come back to if needed
- Remain concise and simple through your questioning to build the truth and avoid confusion or complicated answers
Get Started Using Investigative Interviewing with Law-Tech’s Premier Training
What questions to ask in an investigative interview is only the start of investigative interviewing. As the interviewer, you need to be prepared to read body language, analyze statements, build rapport, establish trust, and discern the truth from what you’re being told.
To delve deeper into investigative interviewing, arrange training with Law-Tech for your company or department, or, we host trainings throughout the year across the United States and will come to you!
See more about investigative interviewing and get started today.
