Impacts of physical and testimonial evidence on South Korean Police interrogator’s selection of tactics

AI Summary

Randomised mixed design with 106 South Korean police interrogators compared five evidence types' effects on tactic selection.
Interrogators favoured non-evidential tactics, especially active listening and identifying needs and emotional state, over evidential tactics.
Non-evidential tactics were commonly reported in routine interrogations, reflected by greater proportions and numbers of tactics selected.

Psychiatr Psychol Law. 2025 Jan 6;33(3):603-626. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2024.2427623. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

Interrogators can hold various types of evidence that influence investigative decisions. This study examined the effect of evidence type on interrogators’ tactic selection. A mixed design was used, randomly assigning 106 South Korean police interrogators to one of five evidence conditions (DNA, CCTV, fingerprint, eyewitness, or no evidence). Participants read a homicide case report where the critical evidence was manipulated with one of the five evidence types, but all other details remained consistent. They selected tactics from a list of 27 tactics, categorized as evidential (e.g. gradual evidence disclosure) or non-evidential (e.g. rapport-building). The proportion and number of tactics chosen served as dependent variables. Results show that South Korean interrogators in this experimental setting preferred non evidential tactics, such as active listening and identifying basic needs and emotional state, more frequently than evidential ones. Additionally, these non-evidential tactics were reported to be commonly employed in their routine interrogations.

PMID:42211418 | PMC:PMC13215435 | DOI:10.1080/13218719.2024.2427623

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