False Confessions: The Raid Interrogation Method
Among various arrests, people who are put in jail or prison due to their confession must make them a proven criminal, right? Unfortunately, not everybody who confesses to a crime is in fact guilty. A false confession is an act of confessing to a crime that the confessor didn’t commit. That creates a conflict involving the individual being accused and the trust towards police interrogation. For instance, after nearly eight years in prison, Nicole Harris sued eight Chicago police detectives, alleging that they coerced her confession (Meiser Para.2) The police detectives incorrectly informed Harris in failing “the polygraph test” indicating that she lied about not committing the murder of her son, Jaquari Dancy (Meiser). She felt that there was
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only one way out of the situation because the detectives supposedly had evidence against her; She confessed to the crime the murder despite claiming her innocence. What was the result? She was imprisoned for nearly 8 years, until her release, she fought back against the police detectives that coerced her confession only for the judge to side with them, leaving her devastated. The detectives walked away with no repercussion as she cried out of defeat. It’s important to understand this situation due to the vast amount of people that are coerced into confessing and wrongly imprisoned. Although police coercing a suspect into confessing is common, there are other factors included in this: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, life adversity and sleep deprivation. According to “Sleep Deprivation and False Confessions” and “False Confessions to Police and their Relationship with Conduct Disorder, ADHD, and life adversity,” it tackles on the causes of false confessions and who is more prone to such factors. Based on “The Role of Deception” and “How the Police Generate False Confessions: An Inside Look at the Interrogation Room” by Trainum, James L, it focuses on the methods police interrogators use to coerce a false confession. Lastly, ways to prevent false confession from reoccurring will be recommended through “Miranda Rights Comprehension in Young Adults with Specific Language Impairment,” “Miranda Rights and Wrongs: Matter of Justice,” and “Police-Induced Confessions: Risk Factors and Recommendations.” Due to these reasons, the modern justice system needs to be updated and enforced to avoid similar cases of coerced false confessions. Firstly, the question of the matter is, who is affected the most? A test was conducted in Iceland at an undisclosed high school and university to figure out who were involved in a false confession and what could’ve led to it; It consisted of 11,388 students ranging from the age 16-24 years old (Gudjonsson,Sigurdsson,Sigfusdottir, & Young, Pg.697). 48% males and 51% females were part of the test whereas the 1% didn’t identify their gender. For the testing to proceed, a questionnaire was created to understand the participant’s family background, education, mental health problems, antisocial behavior, free time activities and attitudes. As a result, it was shown that among the participants who were interrogated, the false confession was seen mostly in males and common among the younger participants of 17 years or younger. Majority of the false confession were due to police pressure; As well, there’s a relationship between false confessions and ADHD variables such as being diagnosed with ADHD, on medication for ADHD, and meeting DSM-IV screening for those systems (Gudionsson, Sigurdsson, Sigfusdottir, & Young, Pg.698). Another experiment was conducted to test if people can falsely confess under poor conditions such as sleep deprivation and intoxications (Frenda, Berkowitz, Loftus, & Feen, Pg.2047). In the experiment, 88 participants were placed in different laboratories with a computer and keyboard; They were given instructions to not press the escape key. Half of the participants were told to sleep throughout the night whereas the other rest were told to stay awake. Then the next day, the participants were asked to sign a statement stating that they pressed the escape key. Fifty percent of the sleep-deprived participants signed the statement during the first request and the other half didn’t sign it. After the second request, thirty participants signed yes and the rest refused to sign it again. For the participants that rested, 8 signed the statement for the first request and 17 signed in total after the second time. The results show that under certain conditions such as sleep deprivation can lead to a higher risk of false confession (Frenda, Berkowitz, Loftus, & Feen Pg.2zero48). To improve the modern justice system, the health conditions of suspects should be considered to avoid false confessions. Secondly, the techniques used by interrogators can result in coercing a false confession.
Majority of interrogators follow the Raid Interrogation method due to its high effectiveness. The Raid Interrogation procedure involves isolating the suspect into a confined room, confirming that there is no doubt in his or her guilt, preventing the suspect defending his or her accusation, lying about evidence that proves their crime, giving the suspect reasons on why he or she committed the crime, repeating the steps until they agree with you and having them provide the details about the crime (Jackman Para. 8). James L. Trainum is a former detective who spent 17 years in homicide and dealt with interrogations around it (Jackman Para. 3). He didn’t recognize the flaw in the interrogation method until he realized an imprisoned woman that he previously interrogated was exonerated through DNA examinations. He felt an extreme amount of guilt after looking over previous cases revolving around false confession before the DNA test could prove their innocence, but sometimes words have more power that people believe a confession triumphs over evidence (Jackman Para. 4). If you were exonerated through DNA testing, you were considered blessed because not in every situation would you be exonerated since you confessed to the crime. Trainum recognized that there was a problem with the Reid Interrogation method because of how it forces for the answer you wanted rather than the truth. With that …show more content…
method, some suspect believes in a cost-benefit situation, in which if they were to confess to the crime, they’ll probably be able to go home or have a lesser sentence but the reality is you won’t gain anything less (Jackman Para.10). A confession to a crime means you broke the law you were accused of so you’ll gain the proper sentencing for it. Trainum encourages law enforcement to take the route of gaining an interviewing skillset because it’s considered non-important when it’s highly required if you were to interrogate someone (Jackman Para.15). As well, Jan Pudlow interviewed various attorneys and judges to understand the role of confessions in a person’s imprisonment. Judge Perry analyzed the interrogation techniques as similar to playing poker (Pudlow Para.10). In poker, you’ll make the players believe that you got the ace card up your sleeve but in reality, you have a slim chance of winning so the best bet is to bluff. Similar to this, it’s used in the Reid Interrogation methods to see if the suspect would believe that you have the evidence to imprison him or her for the crime. Due to these reasons, the justice system needs to be updated into something more practical that can reduce these cases from being persisting. Thirdly, there are three methods that can improve the justice system to diminish the amount of false confession: Enforcing the Miranda Rights properly, having electronic recording of interrogations and reformation of interrogation practices. The Miranda Rights give individuals the right to remain silent, have any words said be used against them, the right to attorney or providing of one, and agreement in understanding those rights (“What Are Your Miranda Rights” Para. 1). According to Richard Rogers & Eric Y. Drogin, there are three misconceptions that need to be recognized for Miranda Rights: Americans being familiarized with Miranda Rights, the Miranda warnings effectively conveying the rights, and the idea that its concept is simple to grasp (Pg. 152). To make it into a concept that’s easier to digest, the vocabulary used to define the Miranda Rights should be simplified for a preschooler to understand and to shorten the rules so people don’t lose focus in acknowledging it. Next is the need for an electronic recording in interrogation rooms to have evidence if an interrogator is suspected to coercing a confession (Kassin et al., pg. 25). Anyone have the capacity to lie and fabricate what happened within interrogation rooms, so people can avoid this problem by having a device to keep track of what goes on in that room visually and audibly in its entirety. Lastly, interrogation practices need to be reformed (Kassin et al., pg. 25). As shown previously, the Raid technique can be seen as obtaining an answer you want rather than gaining the truth from the suspects. To combat this situation, the Raid technique can be exchanged for an interviewing type of interrogation to avoid having an innocent suspect from falsely confessing. This allows the interrogator to keep track of what they said and have the benefit of the doubt without imprisoning them until DNA results proves his or her innocence unless another suspect is involved. With these three methods, it can be used to reduce the amount of false confession produced and improve the justice system. Opposers may argue that the police interrogators aren’t responsible for juvenile suspects and the mentally impaired because they’re protected under the 5th amendment and Miranda Rights.
I acknowledge the reasoning behind their argument because the 5th amendment prevents a suspect from self-incrimination, and the Miranda warning enforces the 5th amendment with the right to remain silent to avoid any words from being used against the suspect. Despite the protection of the 5th amendment, the Reid technique is still used against most suspects to obtain a confession, and during the arrest of a suspect, the Miranda Rights can be ignored if there’s no witnesses around. Since the Reid technique is highly endorsed, the only legal protection for the juvenile suspects are the Miranda Rights and 5th amendment; Regardless of the legal protections, studies show that 90% or more refrain from using the rights due to misunderstanding or unfamiliarity of it (Reppucci, Spellman, Allen, and Hurd, Pg.11). Referring back to Trainum’s book, he recognizes the flaw in the justice system in the area of accepting a confession without the doubt of a fabricated one, and how the suspect’s thought process works in those situations. Logically, corruption is a trait that can be in anyone so police officers can ignore the rights of the suspect and force them to admit the crime on the spot without any witnesses. As well, most interrogations aren’t recorded so people can be worn down to the point of coerced
confession. These reasons reinforce why the justice system needs to be updated so false confession can be reduced to a marginal amount. Without recognizing the causes and ways in preventing it from reoccurring, false confessions will continue to lead suspects into being wrongly imprisoned. In conclusion, false confession is indirectly allowed if the interrogators follow the appropriate methods, and it correlates to the suspect’s mental impairment and age. By optimizing the interrogation method to fit everybody’s individuality and security, it can reduce the number of false confessions. The modern justice system needs to be updated and enforced to avoid similar cases of false confessions. Body cameras on police officers, video camera in every interrogation room, and reformed interrogation methods to decrease false confessions. If the interrogation methods were updated to fit anyone of any conditions, imagine the amount of innocent people that wouldn’t be wrongly imprisoned.
only one way out of the situation because the detectives supposedly had evidence against her; She confessed to the crime the murder despite claiming her innocence. What was the result? She was imprisoned for nearly 8 years, until her release, she fought back against the police detectives that coerced her confession only for the judge to side with them, leaving her devastated. The detectives walked away with no repercussion as she cried out of defeat. It’s important to understand this situation due to the vast amount of people that are coerced into confessing and wrongly imprisoned. Although police coercing a suspect into confessing is common, there are other factors included in this: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, life adversity and sleep deprivation. According to “Sleep Deprivation and False Confessions” and “False Confessions to Police and their Relationship with Conduct Disorder, ADHD, and life adversity,” it tackles on the causes of false confessions and who is more prone to such factors. Based on “The Role of Deception” and “How the Police Generate False Confessions: An Inside Look at the Interrogation Room” by Trainum, James L, it focuses on the methods police interrogators use to coerce a false confession. Lastly, ways to prevent false confession from reoccurring will be recommended through “Miranda Rights Comprehension in Young Adults with Specific Language Impairment,” “Miranda Rights and Wrongs: Matter of Justice,” and “Police-Induced Confessions: Risk Factors and Recommendations.” Due to these reasons, the modern justice system needs to be updated and enforced to avoid similar cases of coerced false confessions. Firstly, the question of the matter is, who is affected the most? A test was conducted in Iceland at an undisclosed high school and university to figure out who were involved in a false confession and what could’ve led to it; It consisted of 11,388 students ranging from the age 16-24 years old (Gudjonsson,Sigurdsson,Sigfusdottir, & Young, Pg.697). 48% males and 51% females were part of the test whereas the 1% didn’t identify their gender. For the testing to proceed, a questionnaire was created to understand the participant’s family background, education, mental health problems, antisocial behavior, free time activities and attitudes. As a result, it was shown that among the participants who were interrogated, the false confession was seen mostly in males and common among the younger participants of 17 years or younger. Majority of the false confession were due to police pressure; As well, there’s a relationship between false confessions and ADHD variables such as being diagnosed with ADHD, on medication for ADHD, and meeting DSM-IV screening for those systems (Gudionsson, Sigurdsson, Sigfusdottir, & Young, Pg.698). Another experiment was conducted to test if people can falsely confess under poor conditions such as sleep deprivation and intoxications (Frenda, Berkowitz, Loftus, & Feen, Pg.2047). In the experiment, 88 participants were placed in different laboratories with a computer and keyboard; They were given instructions to not press the escape key. Half of the participants were told to sleep throughout the night whereas the other rest were told to stay awake. Then the next day, the participants were asked to sign a statement stating that they pressed the escape key. Fifty percent of the sleep-deprived participants signed the statement during the first request and the other half didn’t sign it. After the second request, thirty participants signed yes and the rest refused to sign it again. For the participants that rested, 8 signed the statement for the first request and 17 signed in total after the second time. The results show that under certain conditions such as sleep deprivation can lead to a higher risk of false confession (Frenda, Berkowitz, Loftus, & Feen Pg.2zero48). To improve the modern justice system, the health conditions of suspects should be considered to avoid false confessions. Secondly, the techniques used by interrogators can result in coercing a false confession.
Majority of interrogators follow the Raid Interrogation method due to its high effectiveness. The Raid Interrogation procedure involves isolating the suspect into a confined room, confirming that there is no doubt in his or her guilt, preventing the suspect defending his or her accusation, lying about evidence that proves their crime, giving the suspect reasons on why he or she committed the crime, repeating the steps until they agree with you and having them provide the details about the crime (Jackman Para. 8). James L. Trainum is a former detective who spent 17 years in homicide and dealt with interrogations around it (Jackman Para. 3). He didn’t recognize the flaw in the interrogation method until he realized an imprisoned woman that he previously interrogated was exonerated through DNA examinations. He felt an extreme amount of guilt after looking over previous cases revolving around false confession before the DNA test could prove their innocence, but sometimes words have more power that people believe a confession triumphs over evidence (Jackman Para. 4). If you were exonerated through DNA testing, you were considered blessed because not in every situation would you be exonerated since you confessed to the crime. Trainum recognized that there was a problem with the Reid Interrogation method because of how it forces for the answer you wanted rather than the truth. With that …show more content…
method, some suspect believes in a cost-benefit situation, in which if they were to confess to the crime, they’ll probably be able to go home or have a lesser sentence but the reality is you won’t gain anything less (Jackman Para.10). A confession to a crime means you broke the law you were accused of so you’ll gain the proper sentencing for it. Trainum encourages law enforcement to take the route of gaining an interviewing skillset because it’s considered non-important when it’s highly required if you were to interrogate someone (Jackman Para.15). As well, Jan Pudlow interviewed various attorneys and judges to understand the role of confessions in a person’s imprisonment. Judge Perry analyzed the interrogation techniques as similar to playing poker (Pudlow Para.10). In poker, you’ll make the players believe that you got the ace card up your sleeve but in reality, you have a slim chance of winning so the best bet is to bluff. Similar to this, it’s used in the Reid Interrogation methods to see if the suspect would believe that you have the evidence to imprison him or her for the crime. Due to these reasons, the justice system needs to be updated into something more practical that can reduce these cases from being persisting. Thirdly, there are three methods that can improve the justice system to diminish the amount of false confession: Enforcing the Miranda Rights properly, having electronic recording of interrogations and reformation of interrogation practices. The Miranda Rights give individuals the right to remain silent, have any words said be used against them, the right to attorney or providing of one, and agreement in understanding those rights (“What Are Your Miranda Rights” Para. 1). According to Richard Rogers & Eric Y. Drogin, there are three misconceptions that need to be recognized for Miranda Rights: Americans being familiarized with Miranda Rights, the Miranda warnings effectively conveying the rights, and the idea that its concept is simple to grasp (Pg. 152). To make it into a concept that’s easier to digest, the vocabulary used to define the Miranda Rights should be simplified for a preschooler to understand and to shorten the rules so people don’t lose focus in acknowledging it. Next is the need for an electronic recording in interrogation rooms to have evidence if an interrogator is suspected to coercing a confession (Kassin et al., pg. 25). Anyone have the capacity to lie and fabricate what happened within interrogation rooms, so people can avoid this problem by having a device to keep track of what goes on in that room visually and audibly in its entirety. Lastly, interrogation practices need to be reformed (Kassin et al., pg. 25). As shown previously, the Raid technique can be seen as obtaining an answer you want rather than gaining the truth from the suspects. To combat this situation, the Raid technique can be exchanged for an interviewing type of interrogation to avoid having an innocent suspect from falsely confessing. This allows the interrogator to keep track of what they said and have the benefit of the doubt without imprisoning them until DNA results proves his or her innocence unless another suspect is involved. With these three methods, it can be used to reduce the amount of false confession produced and improve the justice system. Opposers may argue that the police interrogators aren’t responsible for juvenile suspects and the mentally impaired because they’re protected under the 5th amendment and Miranda Rights.
I acknowledge the reasoning behind their argument because the 5th amendment prevents a suspect from self-incrimination, and the Miranda warning enforces the 5th amendment with the right to remain silent to avoid any words from being used against the suspect. Despite the protection of the 5th amendment, the Reid technique is still used against most suspects to obtain a confession, and during the arrest of a suspect, the Miranda Rights can be ignored if there’s no witnesses around. Since the Reid technique is highly endorsed, the only legal protection for the juvenile suspects are the Miranda Rights and 5th amendment; Regardless of the legal protections, studies show that 90% or more refrain from using the rights due to misunderstanding or unfamiliarity of it (Reppucci, Spellman, Allen, and Hurd, Pg.11). Referring back to Trainum’s book, he recognizes the flaw in the justice system in the area of accepting a confession without the doubt of a fabricated one, and how the suspect’s thought process works in those situations. Logically, corruption is a trait that can be in anyone so police officers can ignore the rights of the suspect and force them to admit the crime on the spot without any witnesses. As well, most interrogations aren’t recorded so people can be worn down to the point of coerced
confession. These reasons reinforce why the justice system needs to be updated so false confession can be reduced to a marginal amount. Without recognizing the causes and ways in preventing it from reoccurring, false confessions will continue to lead suspects into being wrongly imprisoned. In conclusion, false confession is indirectly allowed if the interrogators follow the appropriate methods, and it correlates to the suspect’s mental impairment and age. By optimizing the interrogation method to fit everybody’s individuality and security, it can reduce the number of false confessions. The modern justice system needs to be updated and enforced to avoid similar cases of false confessions. Body cameras on police officers, video camera in every interrogation room, and reformed interrogation methods to decrease false confessions. If the interrogation methods were updated to fit anyone of any conditions, imagine the amount of innocent people that wouldn’t be wrongly imprisoned.