Analysing Police Interviews - Laughter, Confessions and the Tape

This is an exploration of the police interview interaction between officers and suspects, using real interview recordings and a conversation analytic framework. This book uses transcripts from real UK police interviews, investigating previously unexplored and under-explored areas of the process. It illustrates the way in which police and suspects use language and sounds to inform, persuade and communicate with each other. It also looks closely at how interactional tools such as laughter can be used to sidestep the legal boundaries of this setting without sanction. The work reveals the delicate balance between institutional and conversational talk, the composition and maintenance of roles and the conflicts between the rules of interaction and law. The analyses offer detailed insights into the reality behind the myth and mystique of police interviews and contain findings which have the potential to inform and advance evidence-based police interview training and practice.Table of ContentList of figures; List of extracts; 1.Overview; 2. An introduction to police interview research, policing and recorded evidence; 3. An introduction to conversation analysis; history and practice; Part 1: Laughter; 4. Buttressing innocence and challenging the officer: suspect laughter in the interview; 5. Officer laughter: challenging the suspect and breaking the rules; Conclusion to Part 1; Part 2: The silent participant; 6. The silent participant: Institutional constraints, semantic and legal redundancy; 7. The silent participant: Uninitiated third turns; Conclusion to Part 2; Part 3: Confessions; 8. Confessions: Knowledge claims; 9. Confessions: Minimisation; Conclusion to Part 3; Chapter 10. Conclusion; Appendix I. Transcription convention glossary; Appendix II. Additional transcript excerpts; Appendix III. Glossary of technical terms; Appendix IV. Extract from The Bill script; References; Notes; Index.Review Quote[Analysing Police Interviews] offers detailed insights into the reality behind the myth and mystique of police interviews, providing empirical evidence that may inform and advance police interview training and practice.Review QuoteStimulating, rigorous and insightful. As well as revealing the inner workings of the police interview - a mainstay of everyday law enforcement - Analyzing Police Interviews is often entertaining and the real life examples at its heart provide a unique glimpse into the workings of this central element of the police toolkit.Biographical NoteElisabeth Carter is Visiting Fellow in the Department of Sociology, University of Essex, UK.An exploration of the police interview interaction between officers and suspects, using real interview recordings and a conversation analytic framework.Advances conversation analysis by using audio editing software to accurately time pauses, laughter and overlaps.Examines how laughter enables sidestepping the legal boundaries of the interview situation without sanction.Uses real data from 35 phone interviews, with a synopsis and context for each.