Law Enforcement Criminal Investigation Fundamentals 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the cognitive interview technique, witnesses are often asked to recall events in reverse order primarily to:
- Waste the suspect's time
- Disrupt rehearsed or fabricated accounts and trigger additional details (Correct answer)
- Comply with Miranda
- Test the witness's math skills
Correct answer: Disrupt rehearsed or fabricated accounts and trigger additional details
Reverse-order recall makes scripted lying harder and can surface forgotten details.
Question 2: What is the key difference between an interview and an interrogation?
- Interviews are recorded; interrogations never are
- An interview gathers information from cooperative people; an interrogation seeks admissions from a suspect (Correct answer)
- They are identical terms
- Interrogations require no documentation
Correct answer: An interview gathers information from cooperative people; an interrogation seeks admissions from a suspect
Interviews are non-accusatory fact-finding, while interrogations are accusatory and aimed at obtaining confessions.
Question 3: Miranda warnings are required when a suspect is subjected to:
- Any conversation with police
- Custodial interrogation (Correct answer)
- A traffic stop alone
- A field show-up
Correct answer: Custodial interrogation
Miranda applies only when a person is both in custody and being interrogated.
Question 4: A 'false confession' risk is highest when which interrogation factor is present?
- Short, well-documented sessions
- Prolonged isolation, coercion, or feeding the suspect non-public case details (Correct answer)
- Reading rights clearly
- Allowing an attorney present
Correct answer: Prolonged isolation, coercion, or feeding the suspect non-public case details
Lengthy coercive interrogations and contamination with case facts greatly increase the risk of false confessions.
Question 5: When constructing a photo lineup (six-pack), 'fillers' should be:
- Obvious non-matches to make the suspect stand out
- People who reasonably match the witness's description of the perpetrator (Correct answer)
- Other known criminals only
- Officers from the department
Correct answer: People who reasonably match the witness's description of the perpetrator
Fillers must resemble the witness's description so the lineup is fair and not suggestive.
Question 6: Why is a 'double-blind' administration of a lineup preferred?
- It is faster
- The administrator does not know the suspect, preventing unintentional cues to the witness (Correct answer)
- It requires fewer fillers
- It avoids paperwork
Correct answer: The administrator does not know the suspect, preventing unintentional cues to the witness
When the administrator is unaware of the suspect's position, they cannot consciously or unconsciously influence the witness's choice.
Question 7: Statement analysis flags the sudden shift from 'we' to 'I' in a narrative as potentially indicating:
- Good grammar
- A change in relationship, tension, or distancing relevant to the event (Correct answer)
- Truthfulness always
- Nothing meaningful
Correct answer: A change in relationship, tension, or distancing relevant to the event
Pronoun shifts can signal a change in the relationship or emotional distancing worth probing further.
Law Enforcement Criminal Investigation Fundamentals 3
Under the cognitive interview technique, witnesses are often asked to recall events in reverse order primarily to: