This week’s International Association of Interviewers interview and interrogation training tip provided by Wicklander-Zulawski, has Dave Thompson, CFI, vice president of operations for WZ, talking about the importance of staying current and up to date with your knowledge of the legal framework surrounding interviews and interrogations.
Most companies and organizations have their own standard operating procedures on how to conduct a thorough investigation and the parameters of an interview or an interrogation. But here at WZ, we make it a habit of reviewing current legal trends and updates.
That might include a review of the public sector, during which we’re discussing the waiver of Miranda rights and how it applies differently to an adult than it does to a juvenile. We might look at the issue of recording interrogations—the importance of doing so, but also the laws state by state.
In the private sector, we look at things like addressing confidentiality during the interview. Did you know that if you address confidentiality in the wrong way, using a blanket statement, that you could be violating the ruling in the National Labor Relations Board case against Banner Health?
We also might look in the private sector at recording an interview. What if an employee asks for an interview to be recorded? Are you allowed to do so? What if you’re interviewing a juvenile, and they ask for their parent?
A lot of these questions can be answered by making sound ethical business decisions. But it’s also important to understand the legal parameters in which you’re operating. I challenge you to educate yourself on the updates within the system. Even if you felt comfortable when you first went through any type of interviewing course, it’s sure to have changed—over the span of six months, a year, or a decade— the different protocols that come into play when we are conducting interviews or interrogations.
If you’re unfamiliar with any of these laws, or how your company or organization handles them, now would be a great time to visit that with your legal team or your human resources team to make sure everybody’s on the same page.
Every loss prevention investigator should strive to enhance their investigative interviewing skills as part of an ongoing commitment to best-in-class interviewing performance. This includes holding ourselves to an elite standard of interview and interrogation training that is ethical, moral and legal while demanding excellence in the pursuit of the truth. The International Association of Interviewers (IAI) and Wicklander-Zulawski (WZ) provide interview and interrogation training programs and additional guidance to investigators when dealing with dishonest employees, employee theft, sexual harassment, policy violations, building rapport, pre-employment interviewing, lying, denials and obtaining a statement.
By focusing on the latest information and research from experts in the field as well as academia, legal and psychological resources, these video tips provide interview and interrogation training techniques that can enhance the skill sets of professionals with backgrounds in law enforcement, loss prevention, security, asset protection, human resources, auditors, or anyone looking to obtain the truth.
To learn more, visit www.w-z.com or www.certifiedinterviewer.com.
This post was originally published in 2018 and was updated February 11, 2019.
