Police Victim and Witness Interviewing in a Northern Canadian Territory: Measuring Perceptions and Practice

Abstract

Police victim and witness interviewing in a northern Canadian territory with a predominantly Indigenous population was examined across two studies. In study 1, an Internet survey about interview training, practices and cross-cultural issues was completed by serving police officers (N = 37). In study 2, transcripts of interviews with Indigenous adult victims and witnesses (N = 20) were coded for the presence of various interviewing practices (e.g. question types, interruptions, talking time). Survey results showed that most officers were untrained in scientific-interviewing protocols but were aware of the general practices that constitute a competent interview (e.g. building rapport, requesting a free narrative). Most respondents indicated that cultural differences impact their interviewing style. Results of the transcript analysis showed that officers violated the 80/20 talking rule in 90% of the interviews and unproductive question types (e.g. closed yes/no) were used often. All interviews contained a request for a full account, most interviews contained elements of active listening and few interruptions were observed. These findings are discussed with reference to how interviewing and cross-cultural communication training could help police organizations who serve Indigenous populations. Future research should consider whether established international best practices for interviewing are effective in settings with Indigenous victims and witnesses.

Rapport‐building: Chat versus in‐person witness interviews

“…None of the perceived rapport scales correlated with the disclosure outcomes. Whilst for practice rapport is considered a vital interviewing tactic (e.g., Brandon et al, 2018;Chenier et al, 2020), the research on rapport's benefits for increased information elicitation remains mixed (Gabbert et al, 2021), and our results add to these mixed findings. Unlike the majority of the research that has found a beneficial effect of rapport on disclosure (e.g., Collins et al, 2002;Kieckhaefer et al, 2014), we did not make comparisons between a rapport and a control group.…”

A Friendly Police Supervision Model and Youth Violence Reduction in Northern Saskatchewan: Implications for Indigenous Policing in Canada

“…Understanding the community-level and individual-level needs and cultural characteristics of Indigenous peoples is another key aspect for developing a successful Indigenous policing model. In a recent study on the interview practices of 37 Canadian police officers working in a predominantly Indigenous region in northern Canada, officers reported that cultural differences impacted their interviewing performance, and they could only ‘sometimes’ (50%) or ‘rarely’ (21%) elicit a full account from interviewees (Chenier et al, 2020 ). Half of the officers attributed their difficulties in obtaining the full accounts of victims and witnesses to problems with language barriers and communication.…”

Improving Witness Interviewing for the Investigation of Disappeared Persons Due to Armed Conflict

“…Some studies have shown that cultural differences within countries can have an impact on information gleaned and so interview methods should be adapted depending on the nature of interviewee culture [ 35 , 36 ]. A very recent review of an investigation by the Toronto Police Service of serial homicide of gay men showed that investigators had trouble effectively communicating with the LGBTQ2+ community [ 37 ].…”