An exploratory study of the planning and interviewing practices of police recruits in Western Australia

The present study examines the planning and interviewing practices of police recruits engaging in investigative interviews with witnesses. The study analyses how the content of plans and interviews prepared by 23 police recruits changes on four occasions during their training at the Western Australia Police Academy, and whether there is a relationship between the content of plans and interviews. On each occasion, undergraduate students acted as witnesses, watching a short film depicting a mock crime before being interviewed by one of the recruits. To facilitate analysis, the items in plans and the questions and statements in interviews were coded according to what aspect of the PEACE model of interviewing they related (e.g., Engage and explain, Account, clarification and challenge [Account] or Closure). The findings show that recruits emphasise the Account stage in their plans and interviews while neglecting the Engage and explain and Closure stages of the model. Further, findings show an association between the content of plans and interviews, particularly with regard to the Engage and explain stage of the model. Encouragingly, recruits were found to increase the proportion of items relating to the Closure stage in plans and interviews following training. Implications of the findings are discussed with particular regard to their application in training recruits.