Interrogations during school (with trained actors) we had to extract 80% of the information and write a report on it containing 90% of the information we extracted, with no notes, up to several hours after the interrogation.
Interestingly, I learned how to “tag” memories as authentic (so I could write about them later) which has had interesting implications later on in my life.
Do tell.
Anyway, occasionally someone will “bring up” a meeting detail later on and be confused by it. This isn’t malicious, but sometimes it can be so far from what was actually discussed that people question their own memories and something slightly different arises from the ashes. I used to point out what was actually discussed, but I learned that doesn’t usually come across that well (you’re now questioning a teammate’s memory and aptitude, and requires a bit more delicate politics than I care to involve myself with). These days, I just sit back and watch it play out. It’s pretty rare-ish.
once upon a time it also meant Califoria Youth Authority, lol
You use direct questioning once you’ve succeeded at your approach, when you lose trust, or when you’re not trained properly on approaches because you can fuck it up pretty bad.
So you’d get a couple of paragraphs explaining what the character was picked up for, etc.
The first steps was learning how to direct question. The actors would pretty much shut down if you did something wrong like try an approach or ask leading questions. And they wouldn’t respond for the rest of the session. The goal was to force it into our head that once someone is willing to answer us, don’t stop asking the right questions. During the test though, the actors would give you wrong information instead of shutting down.
Then we started learning of approaches. The actors goals here was much the same except this time their goal was to not give you information unless they felt like you deserved it. I’ll never forget this one time, I got baited into a religious discussion. It was so obviously a trap and I fell right into it. Didn’t get a single bit of information because I pissed off the guy for not knowing enough about his religion.
Most of the time the first bit is figuring out core motivation. Is the person motivated by power or emotion?, and then giving them that as a carrot or taking it away. So you are genuinely trying to get to know the person, and that person is stuck in a room with you so they don’t have any other choice other than not saying a word (the worst!!).
If it’s done right, you end up caring for these people to some degree. Even though you don’t want to because sometimes these people have done absolutely terrible things. It’s a rough job. It wasn’t until I became a parent and realized that emotion is similar to when your kid misbehaves. You love your kid, but the child has to be punished. So while your child is sitting in the corner, tears streaming down the face in shame and betrayal, you love them but have to teach them that there are consequences. It’s nearly the same emotions as that moment except every single day, all day.
Off-duty cops are clueless, especially the drunk ones. A drug dealer friend once got a cop room mate for a couple years. That was hilarious and he would always pick us up if we were too drunk to drive, which we always made a fake scene about why a squad car was picking us up. Sometimes I miss my 20’s… nah, I don’t.