Investigative interviewing of victims, witnesses, and suspects shapes the reliability and credibility of evidence throughout the criminal justice process. For much of the 20th century, police routinely relied on accusatory, non-evidence-based interrogation methods that increased the risk of extracting false confessions from innocent people. A 1992 study by John Baldwin commissioned by the UK Home Office, which examined over 600 interviews in England and Wales, demonstrated that officers frequently relied on assumptions and confirmation-seeking rather than open-minded information gathering. Investigative approaches must address the scientific reality that human memory is a fallible, reconstructive process easily distorted by leading questions, media coverage, and details from other witnesses.

Background: Protest and Public Order Policing

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