Police Perils-How False Confessions Occur Part 1

Police obtain a false confession in Brand of Justice. The Supreme Court has okayed lying on behalf of officers. We've advanced beyond 'Good Cop-Bad Cop' and have other options available for officers. The Reid Technique for example.

Here's how it works. Cop asks . . . 'Do you still beat your wife?' Yes indicates you are still beating your wife. You can't respond that way so you say no. But wait. No connotates that you beat your wife in the past. Then it's too late. There is blood in the water and the uniformed sharks are moving in to gorge on innocents. This is why I'd argue the need to discuss these issues with your children. Most of you would argue that you're on the side of law and order and don't need to consider these issues. Here's to hoping you're right. 

The Reid technique is a method of questioning subjects to try to assess their credibility and to extract confessions of guilt. Supporters argue the Reid technique is useful in extracting information from otherwise unwilling suspects, while critics have charged the technique can elicit false confessions from innocent persons, especially children. Indeed, Reid's breakthrough case resulted in an overturned conviction decades later.^[1]

The term "Reid Technique" is a registered trademark of the firm John E. Reid and Associates, which offers training courses in the method they have devised. The technique is widely used by law-enforcement agencies in North America. However it has been widely discredited as it has a long history of eliciting false confessions.^[2]