Stop Playing Good Cop: Rethink the Way You Interview

corporate security effective questioning skills evidence based interviewing hr investigations integris solution interview strategy interview techniques investigative interviewing investigative training professional interview skills Sep 15, 2025

When you hear the word interrogation, you might picture a dimly lit room, a one-way mirror, and a detective sliding into the “Good Cop” role to break someone down.

That’s old-school thinking.

Today’s investigations require more—something smarter, more ethical, and backed by behavior science.

It’s time to move beyond outdated tactics and start having Effective Investigative Conversations.

Why the Reid Technique Doesn’t Hold Up Anymore

For years, the Reid Technique set the standard for interviews in the U.S. It relies on:

Accusatory tactics
Pressuring the subject through manipulation
Isolating them from support
Asking leading questions designed to get confessions

But here’s the issue:

It can lead to false confessions
It damages trust with the subject
It focuses more on confessions than truth
It doesn’t hold up well under legal or ethical scrutiny

In today’s environment—with body cams, tighter HR policies, and growing legal risk—manipulative tactics aren’t just outdated; they can be dangerous.

The Smarter Path: Behavior-Based Interviewing

Effective Investigative Conversations (EIC) is a modern approach that focuses on:

Building trust
Recognizing changes in behavior
Applying cognitive techniques to spot deception
Gathering information that’s accurate and defensible

Instead of using pressure, it blends psychology and structured communication for better results.

Why Lies Break Down Under Pressure

Lying takes effort. When someone isn’t being truthful, they have to:

Make up believable details
Keep track of what they’ve said
Control their movement
Manage their emotional state

All of that increases cognitive load and that’s where the signs of deception start to show.

The EIC method taps into this by asking:

Surprising follow-ups
Probes that stretch or compress time
“What if” scenarios that challenge their story

The more they lie, the harder it becomes to keep it together, and that’s when their behavior shifts. We’ll teach you how to spot those moments.

From Baseline to Red Flags

Forget the TV tropes.
Liars can look you in the eye.
Honest people do get nervous.

That’s why context matters.

With EIC, you learn to build a behavioral baseline during the early part of the interview. Once you’ve established what “normal” looks like, it’s easier to detect the deviations that may point to stress, discomfort, or dishonesty.

You’ll learn to recognize:

Changes in tone or pacing
Unnecessary self-corrections
Emotions that don’t match the moment

This isn’t guesswork—it’s science-based observation.

Ask Better Questions. Get Better Answers.

In EIC, your questions are tools not just conversation fillers.

You’ll learn how to:

Use open-ended storytelling to gather more context
Apply pressure without being aggressive
Disrupt rehearsed answers with unexpected prompts
Keep a neutral tone to avoid making the subject defensive

It’s a structured approach designed for results—not instincts.

Lead Better Conversations. Get to the Truth, Ethically.

Whether you work in law enforcement, corporate investigations, HR, or security, the quality of your interviews directly impacts your outcomes.

Outdated tactics don’t belong in modern investigations.

Effective Investigative Conversations gives you a better way to:

Uncover truth ethically
Build interviews that hold up under legal or internal review

Make sure you are signed up to be the first to hear when this lands, you can grab a free workbook to start right now by clicking here

See you there!