No, I am not losing it...and many of you who know me must have read that title and thought something was REALLY wrong! What happened was I watched 20/20 last night and it was about people "Losing It" in road-rage situations, workplace violence, and volatile relationships. It was disturbing. It was disturbing that people are so short-fused and lash out at others for the silliest or reasons. People don't seem to give other people any slack at all...everything has to be perfect...everyone has to act perfect...everyone has to drive perfect...everyone has to look perfect, etc. If other people don't line up with what YOU think should happen, then God forbid! Come on people!  

The other disturbing thing was a psychologist who was blaming society! Really?? What about personal responsibility? $h!t happens to everybody, but our reaction to it is OUR responsibility. We CHOOSE how we respond. If someone cuts you off it's not okay to get out of your car and pummel them with a crutch, and if you do, it is not THEIR fault, it's YOURS! Who it the bigger jerk? Your actions...your responsibility.

Another disturbing thing was an attorney representing a man who was married three times, and each time the woman was abused, threatened, hit, intimidated, etc. This man was arrested several times and his doctor license was revoked for using cocaine, but the ATTORNEY stated that his client's problem was picking the wrong woman! Really? Don't you think HE may have been the major problem? Really! Okay, maybe I AM losing it a bit! 

Now, as the president of LIES, LLC, I have to turn this rant into something related to Interview & Interrogation. People have a tendency, now more than ever, to blame anything but themselves for their actions. They blame other people, they blame society, they blame their boss, they blame their parents, and on, and on. Use this in your interview and interrogation process by displacing blame from the person to something else, just like they do anyway. If you conduct a good background of the person you are talking with, you may find out a lot of things that may be appropriate. You may also find out a lot during the initial rapport building stage. Latch on to this tendency of people to to displace blame which may help them save face a little bit and admit to their actions, and it will demonstrate that you understand WHY they did what they did...not because they are a bad person, but because times are tough. That approach will go a lot farther than telling them like it is!  

Interrogation of Stephanie Lazarus, former LAPD Detective convicted of murder on a cold case nearly 23 years after the crime. This is an excellent video which shows that trying to suppress the truth, distort facts or to actively lie during an interview is very difficult, even for someone with training and experience in interviewing and interrogation techniques. As I say in my training classes, when there is a conflict between what is in the memory of an individual and what they are saying about that incident or event, there will be indicators within their language. Not only are there indicators in her language, but watch her body language, her facial expressions and microexpressions, her shoulder shrugs and see how they tie into one another.

Investigators are often confronted with cases involving many possible suspects. Say for instance a theft of a laptop computer occurred within a local business or within a school, and that there were 20 people or students who had access to the area during the time of the theft; where do you start the interview process? You can start interviewing everyone, but that can several hours and even several days. Also, during that time, some of the people who were interviewed may talk with those who have not yet been interviewed, thus possibly contaminating the interview process. This can waste time, money and also compromise the integrity of the investigation. However, an investigator trained with Investigative Statement Analysis will be able to hand everybody a piece of statement paper or a pad and simply ask them to "write down everything that happened from the time you came in until you ended the day."  By doing so, the investigator will obtain an account of everyone's activities on the day of the theft. If the person who stole the laptop computer provides an account of their day, they have to lie, alter information, limit what they write, or in some way manipulate or leave out some of the facts of what really happened during the day (or at least part of the day) in order to cover up their crime. The innocent people don't have to do that because they can simply convey the information about their day. This difference between the innocent and guilty mindset is revealed within the words people use, and this insight will help investigators focus on the most probable individual(s) first. Also, the investigator GAINS information first before any interview, and if some of the people were not available when gathering this initial information and they ask someone who was, "Yo dude, what did the cop ask you, man?" all they can say is they asked me how my day was! :-)

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"Investigative Statement Analysis"

"Tactical Interviewing and Detecting Deception"

"Statement Analysis for Patrol and First Responders"

These are some of the training courses by LIES, LLC Linguistic Interrogation Expert Services during the month of May, 2013. In addition to this, we have consulting engagements with corporations and private training scheduled as well, which is very exciting! Below are the highlighted training opportunities for May 2013:

• May 6-8, 2013 "Investigative Statement Analysis; Truth through what they S.A.I.D." is being held in Tennessee. Click HERE for course information.
• May 15, 2013 "Statement Analysis for Patrol and First Responders" is being held in New Hampshire. Click HERE for course information.
• May 22-24, 2013 "Tactical Interviewing and Detecting Deception" is being held in Massachusetts. Click HERE for course information. 
• May 30, 2013 "Statement Analysis for Patrol and First Responders" is being held in Connecticut. Click HERE for course information.

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