Legal Studies Commons^™

Recording Of Custodial Interrogations: Policies And Practices, Laura Rubino

Wayne State University Theses

Within the last century, interrogation practices throughout the United States have notably changed. Police interrogations went from physical harm (i.e., the third degree) to psychologically suggestive techniques. These psychologically coercive techniques put suspects at risk of giving a false confession, which is one of the contributing factors in wrongful convictions. One remedy to reduce false confessions is to electronically record interrogations. Very little is known about the specific policies and practices of electronic recordings during interrogation within law enforcement agencies. Policies and practices vary by state and by agency, which makes it difficult to identify agencies that do electronically record …