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This archival study was the first in Sweden, and the first outside of the US and the UK, to apply the (Kelly et al., Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 9, 165–178, 2013) taxonomy of interrogation methods framework to repeated police interrogations of adult suspects in high‐stakes crimes. Audio/video recordings (N = 19) were collected from the Swedish Police Authority of repeated interrogations of three suspects in three criminal cases. The interaction between interrogators and suspects were scored according to the taxonomy framework (Kelly et al., Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 9, 165–178, 2013; Kelly et al., Law and Human Behavior, 40, 295–309, 2016). First, there was an association between the use of different domains. Rapport and relationship building was moderately and negatively associated with confrontation/competition and presentation of evidence. Moreover, confrontation/competition was moderately and positively related to emotion provocation and presentation of evidence. Second, changes were observed during the interrogations. Presentation of evidence was lower in the beginning than in the middle block. Suspect cooperation was higher in the beginning than both the middle and end blocks. Third, an ordered logistic regression showed that rapport and relationship building were associated with increased suspect cooperation, and confrontation/competition and presentation of evidence were associated with decreased cooperation. The study's results are mostly in line with other taxonomy studies on high‐stakes crimes from the US and the UK. The findings are discussed in light of theoretical frameworks, empirical findings, and current police practice. We also highlight the need for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low-stakes crimes related to alcohol and/or drugs are common around the world, but research is lacking on police–suspect interactions of such crimes. A large proportion of these suspects are intoxicated during interrogations, and many may have substance use disorder, making them potentially vulnerable to interrogative pressure. Methods: To address this lack of knowledge, the taxonomy of interrogation methods framework (i.e., 60C interrogation techniques classified into five domains) and a common classification of question types (appropriate vs. inappropriate) were applied in the coding of written police interrogations. Two archival studies, one pilot (Study 1, N = 39) and one main study (Study 2, N = 97) analyzed police interrogations with suspects of alcohol- and drug-related crimes in Sweden. Results: For both Study 1 and 2, suspects showed signs of alcohol and/or drug intoxication, hangover or withdrawal in more than 50% of all interrogations. In Study 2, additional coding indicated that suspects displayed signs of substance use disorder in 57% of the interrogations. The main results from both studies revealed a large number of direct questions asked by the police across all interrogations, and relatively little use of the strategic interrogation techniques from the taxonomy of interrogation methods framework. In fact, when it came to interrogation techniques, law enforcement used more confrontational techniques in their interactions with intoxicated suspects compared to sober suspects. Furthermore, suspects displaying signs of substance use disorder were significantly more cooperative and prone to confess than suspects without indicators of substance use disorder. Conclusion: As the first novel study on low-stakes crime interrogations related to alcohol and/or drugs, the present study provides useful information about current Swedish interrogation practices and areas for improvement. The study results indicate that suspects displaying signs of intoxication or Frontiers in substance use disorder may be more vulnerable during police interrogations. This may in turn have the potential to inform the development of new interrogation policies. Due to the novelty of this research, more studies are needed, both on a national and international level, to examine interrogations in low-stakes crimes further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol-related crimes are very common globally, including in Scandinavia. Despite this, no survey to date has examined the prevalence of alcohol- and drug-intoxicated suspects in Sweden specifically, or which procedures police use when interacting with this suspect group. Given the current lack of (inter)national policy guidelines on how to interrogate intoxicated persons, it is important to examine law enforcement's contact with this potentially vulnerable group in different contexts. This was the aim of the present study. Data were collected via an online survey sent out to Swedish police investigators and 133 officers responded in total. A large majority (87%) of responses indicated that it was common or very common to encounter intoxicated suspects, but findings also suggest that police departments differ in their procedures for when and how to conduct investigations and interviews involving drunk suspects. Our findings support the need for (inter)national guidelines on how to interview intoxicated suspects and the need for more scientific studies on how alcohol affects suspect's memory and decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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