How the Police Generate False Confessions: An Inside Look at the Interrogation Room

Product Description Despite the rising number of confirmed false confession cases, most people have a hard time grasping why someone would confess to a crime they did not commit, or even why a guilty person would admit to something that could put them in jail for life. How the Police Generate False Confessions takes you inside the interrogation room, exposing the tactics that law enforcement uses to make confessions happen. James L. Trainum reveals how innocent people can become suspects and then confessed criminals even when they have not committed a crime. Using real stories, he looks at the inherent coerciveness of the interrogation process and why so many false confessions contain so many of the details that only the true perpetrator would know. More disturbingly, the book examines how these same processes corrupt witness and victim statements, create lying informants and cooperators, and induce innocent people to plead guilty. Trainum also offers recommendations for change in the U.S. by looking at how other countries are changing the process to prevent such miscarriages of justice. The reasons that people falsely confess can be complex and varied; throughout How the Police Generate False Confessions Trainum encourages readers to critically evaluate confessions on their own by gaining a better understanding of the interrogation process. Review [I]f you have an interest in fairness, justice and preventing wrongful convictions, then the new book How the Police Generate False Confessions by former Washington, D.C., homicide detective James Trainum is an important read. It takes you inside the interrogation room to see how investigators extract admissions from innocent people, and how the justice system can fix this persistent problem, seen in high profile cases such as the Central Park Five, the Norfolk Four and the teenaged suspect from Wisconsin in the Netflix series 'Making a Murderer.'... I [Washington Post reporter Tom Jackman] asked Brandon Garrett, a University of Virginia law professor who has focused on wrongful convictions, about Trainum's book. 'It is such an important new book, ' Garrett said. 'For decades, we have seen false confession after false confession lead to tragic wrongful convictions of the innocent while serious criminals go undetected. The courts have done little to respond to abuses in the interrogation room; if anything they have eroded constitutional protections, such as the right to remain silent. Trainum explains that for police, there is another way. Overly coercive interrogation techniques not only produce false confessions but they are not good at uncovering good information. In the U.K. and in more agencies in the U.S., police have changed gears, turning from psychologically coercive techniques to information gathering techniques. Trainum and his book are at the forefront of a revolution in police interrogations.' Now that's a lot better book review quote than mine.-- "The Washington Post"Blending his career as a decorated homicide detective with his uncanny academic insights and understanding Jim has given us a book that addresses the complicated issues inherent in police interview and interrogations with piercing precision and unique insights. This is a must-read for practitioners, academicians and anyone interested in what really happens when cops, suspects, policies and the law converge in a pressure-filled interview room. Not to be missed.--Gregg O. McCrary, FBI, retiredFalse confessions are a leading cause of wrongful convictions. Jim Trainum, a retired Washington, DC, homicide detective, explores the nature of this problem in his book, How the Police Generate False Confessions, and discusses how the interview process can be improved and reformed. Investigators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys will all benefit from his experience and insights.--D. Kim Rossmo, Professor, School of Criminal Justice at Texas State UniversityIn this groundbreaking book on the U.S. crimina