Interrogation Tactics

As I have stated, the Miranda decision actually discusses at length how the police will use psychological pressure, isolation and confusion to elicit a confession or statement. Fortunately, the Supreme Court has determined that the easiest way to avoid any form of questioning or interrogation is to simply ask for a lawyer. If you simply ask for a lawyer every time a law enforcement officer asks you a question, you can skip the remainder of this chapter. Below is actual text from the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v. Arizona. You will probably find this as shocking and alarming as the Court did:

Again we stress that the modern practice of in-custody interrogation is psychologically rather than physically oriented. As we have stated before, this Court has recognized that coercion can be mental as well as physical, and that the blood of the accused is not the only hallmark of an unconstitutional inquisition. Interrogation still takes place in privacy. Privacy results in secrecy and this in turn results in a gap in our knowledge as to what in fact goes on in the interrogation rooms. A valuable source of information about present police practices, however, may be found in various police manuals and texts which document procedures employed with success in the past, and which recommend various other effective tactics. These texts are used by law enforcement agencies themselves as guides. It should be noted that these texts professedly present the most enlightened and effective means presently used to obtain statements through custodial interrogation. By considering these texts and other data, it is possible to describe procedures observed and noted around the country.

The officers are told by the manuals that the ‘principal psychological factor contributing to a successful interrogation is privacy-being alone with the person under interrogation. The efficacy of this tactic has been explained as follows... (click here to read more)