Fire Related Courses

Practical Kinesic Arson and Fire Interview and Interrogation®

Length of Seminar: 3 Days
Instructor: Stan B. Walters or Daniel E. Sosnowski

Course Overview:
The primary reason for the existence of any investigator, whether in the criminal, loss prevention, personnel, intelligence, safety, or private investigation field, is to gather information. The success of the investigator is directly related to his ability to conduct effective interviews and interrogations. In 1975, the Rand Corporation concluded through research that the single most important factor directly affecting the outcome of any investigation was the quality of information obtained from the witness or victim of the event. It is reasonable, therefore, to also believe that the proper interview and interrogation of possible suspects has an equal, if not greater, effect on the success of an investigation.

The concept of interviewing held by many investigators is that it appears to be a skill one is possibly born with and is something that cannot be taught. It would also seem that interview and interrogation is viewed as a method of merely following a list of questions presented in some disciplined and structured manner with little or no variation. In reviewing current, as well as dated texts and articles, the new interviewer is led to believe that interview and interrogation is also merely an exercise in asking the “who, what, where, when, and how” that are routinely used in reporting. All such concepts appear to ignore the fact that human behavior, not to mention human interpersonal communication, is complex and multifaceted, and that neither can be approached in a restrictive, structured manner.

Traditionally, the study of kinesics focused on the observable outward physical behaviors of the body in order to ascertain the person’s current emotional state and the role the body plays in communicating that information. It was quickly learned that by understanding the “vocabulary” of body language along with the diagnosis of a person’s verbal output, an interviewer could more easily assess a person’s truthfulness or deception regarding the current issue under discussion.

Kinesic interview and interrogation is viewed as a multiphase behavioral analysis system used to conduct more effective and efficient interpersonal communications. The foundation of the technique rests on the common everyday behavior of human beings and their diverse communication abilities. Some of these communication skills are learned from a collection of available human behaviors, while other characteristics exist in all human animals.

Finally, the art of interview and interrogation is a skill that is learned, but not from a single lesson, class, or textbook. It is a skill that is practiced, polished, and honed over time, and the successful interviewer and interrogator is one who knows that the learning process never ends. To be a successful and professional interviewer and interrogator, one must be a committed student and professional interviewer and interrogator; one must be a committed student of human behavior. To achieve positive results, the professional interviewer and interrogator must study the process, practice his skills, and use his knowledge in pursuit of the truth.

The essential thing is not to find truth but to investigate and search for it.
Max Nordau, Paradoxes, 1885

Upon Completion:
The attendee will be provided the knowledge and skills to conduct a successful and effective interview with results from The Practical Kinesic Analysis Phase.

1. Verbal Cues - Identification of symptoms of speech quality and content which give the interviewer the most productive body of data necessary to determine truth and deception.
2. Practical Kinesic Statement Analysissm - Assessment of truth and deception through the use of verbal cues coupled with methods of human recall and symptoms made self-evident in the statement taking process.
3. Body Language Cues - The observable body language cues of deception that are unbalanced or inconsistent in relation to the speech cues or emotional symptoms generated by the subject at the same time.
4. Kinesic Subject Control - Discussion of various techniques available to the interviewer to take control and command of the interview environment. From proxemics to mirroring the use of enhanced information gathering skills.
5. Confession Behaviors - Identification and recognition of the verbal and nonverbal acceptance cues generated by a subject who is prepared to give an admission of confession.