Interviewing People
Arcane's Private Investigators can connect evidence to factual, predicate, character, or expert witnesses.
What is the correct way to interview a witness?
The success of Arcane's Private Investigators’ personal interviews is the fact we actually interview, not interrogate.
Our investigators have cleared many criminal and civil cases over the years through interviewing countless suspects and witnesses who contributed critical evidence.
Our investigators know their interviewing techniques set the tone for the disclosure of facts and therefore follow a methodical sequence of inquiry.
Our investigators put the witness at ease, establish rapport, and carefully and respectfully inquire about what the witness knows about the given situation.
Arcane Investigations uses a four-phase framework of witness interview:
Phase I: Free narrative from the witness
Phase II: Restatement by the investigator
Phase III: Review of information
Phase IV: Reconciliation of inconsistencies
Arcane's Private Investigators address what the witness observed through the five human senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. They use the conversational method and allow the witness to speak freely about their observations.
Witnesses are much more likely to provide information when they are being treated respectfully than when they feel they are being “interrogated” by inexperienced and/or overzealous investigators. We listen to what the witness has to say without interruption in Phase I. In Phase II, the investigator repeats what they heard to ensure proper understanding.
Arcane's Private Investigators know questions will be derived and asked based upon the responses of the witness. In Phases III & IV, our investigators take detailed notes and do not rush their directed interview. Above all, they make the exchange as least adversarial in nature as possible.