Forensic linguistics, first-contact police interviews, and basic officer training

Our study addressed the issue of police-citizen interaction from the perspective of the contributions of specific language features to the communicative exchange. Using theories from the fields of Linguistics, Anthropology, and Criminology, we explored corresponding linguistic, cultural and social factors of the first-contact police interview. Extensive, first-hand observation of police officers performing their daily duties in both the United States and the United Kingdom resulted in a large amount of data on the "first-contact interview", which may be either a response to an emergency call for assistance or a self-initiated investigation on the part of the police officer. Particular features of this speech event are discernible, and patterns were uncovered through statistical analysis that allowed for assertions to be made regarding matters of truth detection and conflict recognition and resolution.; Results of this quantitative analysis performed in the early parts of this research were then taken one step farther, and qualitative police training suggestions were extrapolated from the results. By analyzing what police recruits are currently being taught we found very little current instruction on the linguistic aspects of the police interview. Results and observations undertaken suggest that introducing basic instruction on these aspects of the police interview would be valuable for police officers as they undertake any aspect of police-citizen interaction. By creating operational and functional labels for some of the more pertinent linguistic features witnessed in this particular speech event, the interview process may be maximized regarding the potential for truth detection, and also in matters of citizen and officer safety resulting from communicative frustration.