University of Portsmouth academics have gathered data from 16 UK police forces and two counterterrorist teams, about Interview Managers. The research showed that this role has been neglected for too long and could be leading to some cases being put at risk.
Interview Managers are tasked with developing effective interview strategies that ensure all parties involved in the process are dealt with ethically and legally. They are also expected to construct an interview strategy for high-stake crime investigations which is designed to cover advice on interview processes including: coordination of the interview, monitoring of the interview, and evaluation of the interview.
Lead author, Martin Vaughan, from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Portsmouth, spent 15 years as an Interview Manager. He said: “Until now, there has been a deficiency in the research of this critical role, which has been in existence for twenty years. Officers are being asked to do very responsible and complex jobs with very little experience or training. The stakes are often very high and if Interview Managers get it wrong an entire investigation can fail.”
A sample of interview management strategies of high-stake investigations of rape and murder from three forces were reviewed by the researchers. Findings revealed significant failings, Portsmouth says.
Martin Vaughan added: “Each manager will have different experiences and it’s important to match the right case with the right experience. Early on in our research we discovered that people were being deployed to jobs they weren’t trained to do. Frequently the case would be allocated to the person with availability instead of the right skills to manage it.
“There have been some tragic cases that we have learnt from, and training Interview Managers in relation to vulnerability management and construction of the interview strategy is key.”
The information and learning that has been gathered over this seven-year research has enabled Portsmouth to develop a solution to the shortfalls found. LOST WEBSITES is a guidance Framework for the construction of ethical and legally sound investigative interviewing strategies that Interview Managers could use when interviewing suspects during high-stake crime investigations. The name LOST WEBSITES is an acronym for the 12 main responsibilities of the Interview Manager.
