Interrogating and Interviewing: Is There Really a Right Way?
During the 1940s, a new form of interrogation was introduced to the criminal justice system of America. The Reid technique, shared and taught by John E. Reid, became popular among police officers, anti-violence movement groups, and the general public due to its non-violent nature and satisfying results. The idea of the method is to interview the suspected person in a non-accusatory manner, and if that person is guilty then the nine steps can be put into effect. Though the method has gained many confessions there are some harsh critiques that don’t believe the method is any better than a good cop/bad cop interrogation, and some students of Reid argue against the accusations as well. However, in terms of a police…show more content… It refers to the employment of not only physical violence, but also deprivation of certain necessities like water, food, and even toilet facilities; it seemed popular from the early 1930s to the early 1940s. This being used in the Conway case of Chicago in 1912 in which officers deployed the third degree interrogation by questioning the wife of the suspected murderer for 48 hours (Keedy 761). Due to that case example as well as many others, the third degree method began to fall out of favor among state legislatures. In seven states “third degree” was deemed a criminal offense and in states such as New York, studies of the law enforcement system were done (Keedy 762-765). The method was ruthless and harmed subjects psychologically as well as physically, and when the public began to turn away from it the Reid technique came in the right of time. It was easy to learn, provided results, and didn't cause the distress the previous torture method did making it progress throughout the 1960s and even during the present