Juvenile Interrogation Case Study

Overall, law enforcement is not adequately trained in interviewing and interrogating juveniles. While there are numerous courses available in forensic interviewing of children who may be victims, there are few training courses that target techniques for interviewing and interrogating youth who may be suspects or witnesses. Interview and interrogation is standard training for law enforcement agencies, however, it typically does not cover the developmental differences between adults and youth nor does it cover recommended techniques to be used on youth versus adults. This often leads law enforcement practitioners to use the same techniques on youth as with adults. Juveniles may be especially vulnerable to the pressures of interrogation, which

Officers should be wary of questioning juvenile suspects, especially younger teens and children, in the middle of the night. Even a few hours of sleep deprivation, combined with the stress of interrogation, can increase the risk of false confession. And courts tend to disapprove of late night interrogations, particularly when children are involved (The International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2017). My sixth policy would advise them to avoid using deception. Currently, the use of deception during an interrogation, such as a false claim that police possess evidence incriminating the suspect, is permissible. However, the changing nature of the legal landscape should make officers think twice before using this technique during juvenile interrogations. The presentation of false evidence may cause a young person to think that the interrogator is so firmly convinced of his guilt that he will never be able to persuade him otherwise (The International Association of Chiefs of Police,

Indirect promises of leniency and threats of harm can be inappropriate when the suspect is a juvenile. They can trigger involuntary or false confessions by presenting the juvenile with an offer he can’t refuse (The International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2017). My last policy, would encourage my detectives to consider their questioning style and to use recording devices. When questioning juveniles, officers should observe the following: Start by using open-ended, free-recall questions that ask the child to produce a narrative: Use targeted but open-ended questions to get more information: Probe while avoiding outright accusations and deception. Use questions beginning with who, what, where, when,and how to get more information about specific parts of the juvenile’s story. Also, when an interview or interrogation is electronically recorded from start to finish, police have a complete record that can be used to convict the guilty and to ensure that every statement is reliable and voluntary. A recording can also provide officers with invaluable protections against frivolous allegations of abuse. Recording is particularly essential when the person being interrogated is a juvenile (The International Association of Chiefs of Police,