Critically examine the role and practise of interviewing within the police investigation in England and Wales.
This essay is based on the role and practise of interviewing and the structure that an interview was based upon both prior to and after the introduction of the PEACE and PACE model, it will look at relevant case studies involved in past interviews and why the police force needs structure based interviews within the uk, what can be gained from having structure and how it effects the interview. It will also look through the history of interviewing both suspects and victims and what the changes have been throughout time.
Interviewing within the police system has been important for many years as it can often determine whether an individual is guilty or not, it is also important as it can help define a case and the facts involved within the case itself, the general use of a police interview is to collect data on those who have either been suspected of committing a criminal offence or those who may have witnessed a criminal offence taking place. The use of cctv within a police investigation can be crucial as it is factual and you can often see clearly the situation arising and how it came about. There are many other aspects of a police interview that are crucial to a case such as recording the interview itself in order to stop police being accused of coercion and other mistreatment seen previously within the police force. The history of investigation consisted of officers being accused of mistreatment, coercion and threats as the police force did not follow a strict regiment unlike todays attitude and structure of interviewing individuals. “After many years of resistance to the idea of tape recording interviews, there was a sudden change of heart early in the 1980’s within all ranks of the police service when police officer’s discovery that it was in their own interests to record interviews” a key case study that changed the way that the police force” (Bull, Valentine, and Williamson, 2009).
A key case that changed the way that a police interview is structured is the case of the Birmingham six,
“Prior to the introduction of the police and criminal evidence act 1984 (“PACE”) and the related codes of practise, concerns existed about the potential for the police to force interviewees or suspects to confess to crimes they had not committed. Following the Guildford four and the Birmingham six appeals, evidence of such coercion, threats and the alleged mistreatment of suspects emerged” (Armstrong, N.D).
The PEACE model was slowly introduced to the national police force in the 1990’s, it was introduced for many reasons. One of the reasons being that the police were seen as being unstructured and the interviews were not recorded which led to many accusations of police brutality being thrown around. Those involved in police investigations kept having accusations thrown at them regarding the way that they conducted the interviews with both suspects and victims A key example of this was was the ‘Guildford four’ who were suspected of being in connection with the IRA and bombing two houses in Guildford. Suspected methods of interviewing consisted of torture and psychological evaluations, those who were interviewed within the 1970’s were at risk of admitting to an offence they did not commit due to the torture they received during their interview, this meant that the police needed to come up with a new way of structuring their interviews and therefore came up with the PEACE model and PACE (the legal structuring of an interview), both of which became useful within the current method of police interviewing. ‘The accused made claims of assault, bullying, torture and consistently denied any of the written confessions, one of the accused, Gerry Conlon, said he confessed after the police had indulged in torture, squeezing his testicles, hitting him in the kidneys, slapping his face and threatening his family (Kennedy 1989).’ (Mitchel and Casey, 2007). Cases such as these made it hard to distinguish whether the police were doing a satisfactory job when looking at the way that they structured their interviews although because the interviews prior to the PEACE model were not recorded, the police could not be convicted of committing such crimes against their victims and nobody really knows the exact amount of cases like the one stated. ‘Twenty to thirty years ago in the U.K, as in the US and Australia interviewing was very much a police “trade secret”. What occurred in interview rooms largely remained there, with a written statement or transcript being the only record.’ (Mitchell and Casey,2007).
The police model consisted of five key elements in order to make it a structured approach to interviewing. These five key phased to the PEACE framework were as follows;
• Preparation and planning
• Engage and explain
• Account clarification and challenge
• Closure
• Evaluation
Firstly, planning and preparation, planning and preparing for an interview is one of the most important phases as it sets the interview up and shows the key issues and objectives needed to make the interview successful. The first stage of the interview means that the officers should create an interview plan, they need to review the investigation and establish what they already know in regards to both the suspects and victims. They must also establish what the aims and objectives of the interview were, they need to know what information they are after and what they can gain from conducting the interview itself. The practical arrangements need to be considered at this point also, this may help the individual conducting the interview to understand the suspects and victim’s circumstances, why the crime has been committed and how the situation occurred. This can include the officer visiting where the crime had been committed, searching the relevant locations, locating the interview room, the time that the interview needs to take place and learning the offence. (App.College.police.uk, 2013).
The second phase to the PEACE model is engaging and explaining, this is important in regards to both the victim’s and suspects, this means that the officer conducting the interview must engage the interviewee and explain why the individual is being interviewed. The objectives of the interview need to be explained also, for example, an interviewer may say ‘During this interview, I will talk to you about (list objectives).’ The pace requirements must also be set out, for example, you must let the interviewee know of the legal representatives they can gain etc. (App.College.police.uk, 2013).
The third phase of constructing the interview is account clarification and challenging the interviewee, this includes reviewing the account and probing a particular topic (checking the details and facts of the case), introducing the topics the investigator must probe, challenging the case itself and take into consideration the account being given. (App.College.police.uk, 2013).
The fourth and fifth stages of the interview include closing the interview, accurately summarising what the interviewee had said and answering any questions they had, evaluating the interview and what the interviewee had said, determining what actions need to be taken and “determining how the interviewee’s account fits in within the investigation.” (App.College.police.uk, 2013).
In conclusion prior to the 1990’s there was little or no structure to the way that the police conducted their investigation, Both the PACE and PEACE model’s directly effected the way that the police investigate and interview the interviewees, both of the cases mentioned above helped define the structure that was needed within the uk police force and showed the mistreatment that interviewees faced when an interview was not recorded nor structured. The peace model helped to train many of the individuals that still work within our police force to this day and therefore has improved our forces dramatically, the five phases constructed for this model give individuals who work for the police force a structure to follow so that they are following a strict set of rules when conducting the interview itself, this means that the interviewee’s rights are set out when being interviewed and they are given the right to legal representation where as prior to PACE they might not of been given this opportunity, this also allows the interviewer to be comfortable with the interview and the case is unlikely to be reprimanded as the correct steps are taken to make sure both the interviewer and interviewee are aware of the procedures during the interview and the facts are recorded both visually, verbally and written.