Interrogate Someone

The gathering of information from an unwilling participant is a tricky process. Whether you're part of an internal investigation into corporate crime or you're trying to find out if your teenager is lying about smoking that pot, many of the techniques in this article can help you. Every situation is different, though, so make sure to really tailor your approach. Just get started with Step 1 to learn how to interrogate successfully and accurately.

Steps

Acting the Part

  1. Act friendly and casual. Studies and empirical evidence have consistently shown that the best way to get a confession from a subject is to make them feel comfortable with you. They need to trust you. You will not get this if you act like the evil Nazi in some Hollywood movie or a Bruce Willis style cop. Act like someone who's generally easy going and just trying to do their job, and you'll be much more sympathetic to the person you're interrogating: the first step in getting them to trust you.
  2. Act in control. This doesn't mean ruling with an iron fist. It just means that you need to appear professional, organized, confident, and like you're calling the shots. This lets your subject think that you're the one with the power to get them out of trouble...or into worse trouble if they get on your bad side.
  3. Be calm. Allowing the subject to see you angry or distressed communicates that he or she can affect your emotions. Don't allow that to happen, and strive to appear calm and collected in all your interactions with the subject.
  4. Don't use Good Cop-Bad Cop. This is a well known technique, common to media, and people will be able to see what you're doing. This will raise their suspicion, which you don't want to do. Sticking to Good Cop-Good Cop will get you a lot further.

Developing a Relationship

  1. Show them kindness. Have you heard the story about the terrorist that gave up information just because his interrogator gave him a special cookie (he was diabetic and couldn't have normal cookies)? This is not an isolated case. Be polite, kind, and at least appear genuinely invested in their comfort and well-being. This will make them more willing to open up.
  2. Talk to them about other subjects. Talk to your subject about casual topics that don't have anything to do with the investigation. This can give you the opportunity to bond and understand each other more, making the more willing to talk and helping you to understand how they think and what they value.
    • For example, ask them about where they grew up and then say you always wanted to travel there. Then ask them questions about what it was like, what they'd recommend, etc.
  3. Get to know them. Ask them questions about themselves and generally get them to talk about what they like, what they think, and what matters to them. This information will similarly make them more open and give you leverage.
  4. Help them with something unrelated. Identify an unrelated need that they have that you can fulfill in exchange for information. Maybe their kid needs medical help and you can help them file for government assistance. Maybe their little brother is doing poorly in school but your teenager is an ace academic and could provide tutoring. If you can identify something that is more important to them than the information, then that's all you need once they trust you.
  5. Ask them their opinions. Getting someone to talk about their opinions on related subjects or on the investigation itself can reveal how they think, but it's also easy to get them to slip and give up more information than they realized. Ask them things like who they think caused the problem or what they would do in your position. Ask them what they think about stealing or whatever your investigation is about. If you're good at reading between the lines, you'll be surprised about how much you can learn.
  6. Be their advocate. They need to see you as the person that's going to protect them and do the best thing for them, but only if they can give you what you need. I mean, you still have to do your job, right? So if they just give you the information so your boss gets off your back, then you can start helping them figure out how to reach the best outcome. This means letting them see the threat of a worse outcome, and offering them a better one. Threatening them and "pulling rank" will instantly undo or prevent the use of this extremely useful technique.

Asking Questions Correctly

  1. Use closed questions. Closed questions can only be answered with yes, no, or a specific answer. If someone is trying to avoid answering questions, use these sorts of questions and insist on a direct answer. Closed questions sound like:
    • "Who did...", "What did...", "When did...", "Did you...", "Can you...", etc.
  2. Use open questions. Open questions are questions that cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no". These types of questions are useful in getting people to say more, possibly slip, and certainly in getting more details or a fuller picture of a situation. Open questions sound like:
    • "Explain how...","Why did...", "What happened...", "How did...", etc.
  3. Use funnel questions. Funnel questions start broad and seem fairly safe to answer but slowly narrow down to the information you really want. You can often start funnel questions with questions you already know the answer to. This type of question gets someone into the rhythm of answering and makes them more likely to slip.
    • For example: "Did you know about the theft last night?", "Who was at the office last night?", "When did they leave?", "When did you leave?", etc.
  4. Use descriptive questions. When you ask certain types of questions, like when you're trying to get details about a situation or catch someone in a lie, use descriptive language. Use words like "tell", "describe", or "show" to get person telling a story and giving specific details. The recollection of details tends to allow information to slip out.
  5. Use analytical questions. Questions that ask someone how they think about something beyond the surface level can not only cause them to uncover information, it can also help you understand how they think and ways that you might be able to coax more information from them. Ask them questions like "Why would someone steal those files?" and read into their reactions.
  6. Don't use leading questions. These questions betray your assumptions about what happened and can lead your subject to give untruthful answers just to please you or get out of trouble. This may seem helpful, but you want the truth. If you're interrogating or discussing someone who's actually innocent, you'll end up hurting your own investigation and prolonging the problem.
    • For example: "Laurel is very untrustworthy, don't you think?"

Using Other Tools

  1. Use silence. Silence can be a powerful tool. Drop silences in after then answer some questions or if they're being tight-lipped, and just look at them. Conjure up that face your mom used to give you when you did something wrong and she knew. Just..stare at them with that face and wait. Most Westerners are conditioned to be uncomfortable during silence and will end it by saying whatever they can, sometimes letting information slip.
  2. Use props. This is a somewhat shady technique and can get you into trouble with the law if you're caught using it, but use things like full file-folders, photo negatives, plastic bags with swabs in them, SD cards, video tapes, and other props to make your subject think you have evidence that you don't. Don't say anything about the props, just let your subject see that you have them and then give them the chance to confess. They will think it's in their best interest.
  3. Use prior knowledge. One technique is to make your subject think you already know everything. Go in with some basic information, the more the better, and tell them that while you have everything you need to complete your investigation, you are required to hear them confirm the details. Ask them questions you already know the answer to, and phrase it with the answer in the question ("You were in the office at 9:10 am on the 17th, correct?"). Then lead to the information you don't know and leave the the opening to fill in the gaps ("Now, what I just don't understand is the information I have here about the files you handed over. Can you explain why you did this? I feel like you must have had a good reason.").
  4. Avoid techniques like torture and severe intimidation. You should at all costs avoid the techniques that are more common these days, where interrogators use threats, severe intimidation, or what can amount to torture in order to get the info you want. These techniques actually have been show to affect you as much as them, and you want to avoid long-term psychological issues.

Tips

  • Let everything you do have a reason.
  • Have a camera present in the room (real or fake)
  • Check out some of the links below for specific interrogation techniques.

Warnings

  • Do not torture the subject. The victim will tell you whatever you want to hear, just to make the torture stop. Any intel you get isn't likely to be accurate.
  • Understand that interrogating someone usually requires imprisonment. As a citizen, it's illegal for you to hold someone against his or her will. You could face false imprisonment charges down the line.

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Sources and Citations

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