Body
Language (7.5
Hours)
Course
Number: CR-554
Course Length: 3 Days or 4 Separate Blocks
Classes
are available on a limited basis.
The interviewing
series consists of three complete days of instruction in the art
and science of gathering accurate and more complete information
from persons by means of oral interviews and assessing non-verbal
communication. This involves oral interaction, interpretation
of non-verbal behaviors, and assessment of deception. This process
is discussed from the standpoint of various interviewing situations
including mere encounters, traffic stops, vehicle collision investigations,
interviews of victims and witnesses, interventional interviews,
and interrogations of criminal suspects. Beginning with Interviewing
I, and progressing through Interviewing IV, the participant explores
the alternatives available for obtaining information from those
who wish to furnish assistance, as well as those who attempt to
conceal information. Each successive workshop builds on the preceding
one, but is complete by itself. Through the use of videos, demonstrations,
and classroom exercises, participants learn how to prepare for
interviews, assess subjects, and conduct routine and formal interviews.
Participants review and assess actual interviews and critique
them for proper application of strategy and tactics. Interviewing
methods introduced are discussed within the range of routine interviews
to the interrogation of a suspect in custody.
Interviewing
III: Body Language in Vehicle Stops, Street Interviews, and Formal
Interrogations is dedicated to the proposition that body
language is a potential second language to be used by the trained
interviewer. As such, it is two-way communication. This workshop
focuses not only on the proper observation of a subject’s
body movements and chosen spatial relationships, but also discusses
the use of this modality by the interviewer to enhance the interview
results. The workshop places the preplanning covered in the first
session and the questioning techniques covered in the second session
into perspective. By understanding the concepts and use of behavior
symptom analysis, participants learn to recognize leakage, incongruence
and deceptive behavior. This workshop focuses on decoding posture,
breathing gestures, eye movement and spatial relationships, as
well as physical signs of stress as both tools to gain additional
information and methods to assess the truthfulness of that information.
Contents include the assessment of body language to determine
an appropriate interview strategy; the role of fear and other
emotions in body movement; baseline, context, congruence, timing
and consistency of observed movements, and reading non-verbal
communication in clusters. The officer also can use his/her own
body language to control denials and obtain useful information.
The workshop details observations possible of a subject from head
to toe, with extended sections on facial movements, eye movements
indicative of deception, and clues to the carrying of a concealed
weapon. The officer safety section demonstrates by means of videos
the deterioration of a law enforcement encounter, and how the
ability to accurately assess body language indicative of either
a threat or of deception is a major law enforcement safety tool.
Demonstrations and videos are used to illustrate how situational
awareness and officer safety may be improved by being able to
better assess body language.