INTERVIEW AND INTERROGATION | “Seeking The Truth” Department Of Defense Polygraph Institute June, 1991INTERVIEW AND INTERROGATION | Welcome to post-test interrogation. I assume that if you have reached this point, you're doing just fine in the course, or you have fooled a lot of instructors. If it is the latter, that's great, because acting is an important ingredient in a successful interrogation. During a stimulating debate one evening, a good friend of mine told me there are two ways to get ahead in this world-- being intelligent or very persistent. I smiled and was just about to thank her when she said, “Michael, you are very persistent.” Needless to say the debate was over. However, I realized that persistence has paid great dividends to my success in interrogation. So if you're not in the top five percentile of the class, don't feel discouraged. You may be a shinning star in “interrogation.” By now you can probably determine whether or not someone is being deceptive based on your charts Congratulations, that's an accomplishment, but now you're faced with a new task. One that your boss is very much interested in. Can you resolve the issue by getting to the truth? Do you have what it takes, “The Right stuff?” My job is to help you bring out your own ability to elicit information from a person who withholds it for what ever reason. Your success depends on many factors and on your own natural gifts. Sociologists and criminologists have filled books with theories and facts that try to explain why people confess Equally puzzling is the chemistry of some of our most renowned interrogators. In the handbook you received, I have organized several different sources of information on various topics. I used this material as a shell and expounded upon it based on my formal training and experiences. There is a tremendous amount of material published on interviews and interrogations. I encourage each of you to read about the subject and attend any training offered to you. At this point in the course you're probably feeling a bit overwhelmed and maybe frustrated. Nevertheless, try to learn as much about interrogations as possible. Here at DoDPI, you're exposed to many of the best examiners and interrogators in the pusiness. You will find that their collective experience level includes all types of interrogations under all imaginable conditions. Interrogations can be fun and very rewarding. When I use the term interrogation, I simply mean “getting to the truth,” whatever that may be. My greatest rewards have come from clearing people who have been wrongfully accused and solving cases that could only be resolved through a confession.