Major investigative interviewing protocols such as the Cognitive Interview recommend that investigators build rapport with cooperative adult witnesses at the beginning of a police interview. Although research substantiates the benefits of rapport-building on the accuracy of child witness reports, few studies have examined whether similar benefits apply to adult witnesses. The present study investigated whether verbal rapport-building techniques increase adult witness report accuracy and decrease their susceptibility to post-event misinformation. One-hundred eleven college adults viewed a videotaped mock-crime, received post-event misinformation (or correct information) about the crime, and were subsequently interviewed by a research assistant who built rapport (or did not build rapport) before recalling the mock-crime. Results indicated that rapport-building increased the quality of witness recall by decreasing the percentage of inaccurate and misinformation reported, particularly in response to open-ended questions. We discuss implications and recommendations for law enforcement.

Most investigative interviewing protocols recommend building rapport with cooperative adult witnesses to increase the accuracy of their reports. Although a few recent studies support the benefits of rapport building on adult witness recall, no study has examined whether the timing of rapport in relation to post-event misinformation affects recall accuracy, and whether these effects are related to witness anxiety levels throughout the interview. The present study provided two hundred and thirty-three undergraduates with a videotaped mock crime followed by building high or low rapport either before or after they received post-event misinformation. All witnesses were then interviewed about the mock crime. Results indicated that high rapport before misinformation increased the amount of accurate information reported in a subsequent witness interview compared to low rapport. However, these recall benefits were not due to a reduction in anxiety. Theoretical implications and practical recommendations for police interviewing practices are discussed.

Rapport-building is perceived by law enforcement as an essential ingredient to a successful investigative interview. Despite its professed importance and longstanding recommendation within major interviewing guidelines (e.g., the Cognitive Interview, the Army Field Manual), empirical studies have only recently examined its impact on cooperative adult witnesses and criminal suspects. To accommodate the burgeoning interest and corresponding research on rapport-building, this article reviews recent empirical literature on its role and effectiveness during investigative interviews. First, this review summarizes different definitions of rapport in clinical and investigatory contexts and the various rapport-building techniques recommended and used with witnesses and suspects. Second, this review synthesizes empirical research that has investigated the effects of rapport-building on cooperative witness accounts and its impact on the diagnostic value of information retrieved from criminal suspects. This review concludes with a discussion of public policy implications and recommendations for researchers and practitioners.

Building rapport with adult witnesses and suspects is recommended by major investigative interviewing protocols (e.g., Cognitive Interview and the Army Field Manual in the USA and PEACE in the UK). Although recent research suggests that building rapport can sometimes benefit police investigations by increasing the accuracy of adult eyewitness reports and potentially enhance the diagnosticity of evidence obtained from suspects, little data exist regarding how law enforcement interviewers actually define and build rapport in real-world investigations. To fill this void, the present study distributed a questionnaire containing open and closed-ended questions to 123 law enforcement interviewers in police training courses to determine how they conceptualize and build rapport with adult interviewees. Results indicate that a majority of law enforcement interviewers define rapport as a positive relationship involving trust and communication, with a strong minority defining rapport as a 'positive or negative' relationship. Further, law enforcement interviewers reported building rapport with adult witnesses and suspects in a similar manner, often by using verbal techniques (e.g., discussing common interests via small talk) and non-verbal techniques (e.g., displaying understanding via empathy and sympathy). Theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed.