Psychological Techniques for Interrogations Discussed by ‘Making A Murderer’ Attorney

Excerpt from ‘Making a Murderer’ attorney talks law enforcement’s psychological techniques for interrogations by Alex Hulvalchick: [email protected] February 22, 2017 On Wednesday, the Ohio State chapter of the Ohio Innocence Project hosted Steven Drizin, the post-conviction attorney for Brendan Dassey, one of the subjects of the Netflix series “Making A Murderer.” Drizin spoke about types of psychological techniques […]

Child Witnesses: The Right Approach

Child Witnesses: The Right Approach When a child is not the victim, but a witness, access can be complicated. Conflicting priorities place people who would normally be on the same side at odds with each other. How can law enforcement agencies navigate this complex situation to get the information they need while also protecting the […]

Videoing Child Interviews Safeguards Your Case

Videoing Child Interviews Safeguards Your Case A prosecutor’s office in Macomb County, Michigan was recently challenged for not videoing child victim interviews– by the defendant. How can this be? Well, as it turns out, the defendant’s lawyers honed in on a critical point: Macomb County’s policy of conducting non-recorded interviews was out of step with […]

Body Cam Footage: An Underused Resource

Body cams have all kinds of practical applications in everyday police work. In this blog, we’ll show you how you can get the most out of your body cam footage. Some of these may really surprise you! Eyewitness Interviews: Most of us think of body cams as a tool to document critical incidents as they […]

360 Degree Cameras and Traffic Stops

One reason for increased interest in body cams and other recording devices is that traditional vehicle cameras have some distinct limitations. After all, they’re dashboard-mounted and have a restricted field of view. If a confrontation escalates and moves off camera, there’s no video footage to clarify any recorded audio. This causes problems when writing reports, […]

To Release or Not to Release Video Footage to the Public

Right now in the state of Indiana, footage that is captured by a law enforcement officer from a dash cam or a body cam is not required to be released to the public. That looks likely to change, however, now that House Bill 1019 has passed. The Indy Star is keeping followers updated on the […]

Why Public Opinion of the Police is Improving

Despite the many pieces in the news over the last year that have shared the public’s dissatisfaction with police, reports show that overall, the public’s opinion on law enforcement and law enforcement professionals is improving! A Gallup survey released last month shows that the public’s trust in police is definitely moving in the right direction. […]

Want Fewer False Confessions? Update Interview Rooms and More 

For the last decade the American people have asked questions about interrogation, ranging from how far is too far when it comes to interrogation and investigation tactics to why aren’t we going farther when it comes to preventing mass-crimes like those we’ve recently witnessed in San Bernadino and Colorado Springs. What experts are finding is […]

Persuasion does Not Equal Coercion

In the hit TV series, The Office, Lackawanna County part-time Volunteer Sheriff’s Deputy Dwight Schrute’s aggressive approach to getting the information he needs to know is makes a lot of us laugh. We know that he sometimes isn’t all “there,” but how many of us recognize that in some ways we believe that our own […]

Six Types of Evidence Used in Courts that are Commonly Wrong

The Criminal Justice System is certainly not perfect, yet we continue to look to it to meet out justice. Did you know, however, that three types of evidence used repeatedly and for decades continues to be collected and utilized improperly? A recent Washington Post article identifies six noteworthy trends. We unpack these and share how recording is […]