The purpose of the interview in the video "Police Interview & Confession: “I Kicked Her
Car”" is to gather information about a specific incident involving the interviewee. The police are
interviewing this person because they believe he has knowledge about or involvement in the
incident. They hope to obtain a confession or at least some information that can help them in
their investigation.
Two of the techniques that were used in this situation were building rapport and direct
questioning. To build rapport, the interviewer begins with: You can tell the interviewer greets
him -- very casual, very friendly. This approach is designed to build a rapport with the interview
subject and induce them to talk. Direct questioning is used to obtain information about the
incident. This is clear from the straight-up questions the interviewer puts to him about the
incident, like "Did you kick her car?”.
Building a good rapport is an effective technique because a good connection makes the
interviewee come out better. At the same time, using direct questioning can create an
environment in which the interviewee will be defensive, and consequently less likely to provide
you with information.
An alternative technique that might be effective in this interview is the use of open-ended
questions. Instead of asking direct questions, the interviewer could ask open-ended questions that
allow the interviewee to share more information in their own words.
The use of open-ended questions could be effective because it gives the interviewee the
opportunity to share more information without feeling pressured or defensive. This technique
could lead to the interviewee providing more detailed and useful information about the incident.
For example, instead of asking "Did you kick her car?", the interviewer could ask "Can you tell
