in this issue . . . The Psychopath As An Interrogation Subject   I Have Heroes; they are called DISPATCHERS   Media Relations

By Stan Walters

One of if not the most challenging interviews or interrogations to conduct are that of the psychopath. Estimated by some experts to comprise about 7% of the world’s population, psychopaths make up approximately 55% of the U.S. prison population and are credited with committing roughly 80% of the violent crimes.  The interview or interrogation of psychopaths confirms that a standard or routine approach that is used with all other subjects will not be successful.  As a personality disorder,  a psychopath is marked by characteristics that include a lack of empathy for their victims, a total lack of personal insight, chronic lying, no remorse and a total lack of impulse control.

The traditional efforts of an interrogator are to attempt to highlight or emphasize within the subject a certain level of awareness and acceptance of responsibility for their behaviors.  The psychopath has never and will never attain such level of awareness.  These subjects’ behaviors are dictated solely in response to a narcissistic need for ego satisfaction.  Psychopaths are incapable of identifying with or appreciating the level of physical, emotional or mental pain that they cause their victims, the victim’s families or their own families. To attempt to get the psychopath to recognize the feelings, fear, trauma or pain they have brought upon their multiple victims is literally a waste of both the interviewer’s and subject’s time.

Once a psychopath is stimulated by the awareness of his or her selfish wants and needs, there is very little that will stop them from driving toward their own self-serving goals.  For anyone to believe that psychopaths will follow or adhere to any standards of appropriate social behavior or conduct is naïve at best.  These subject’s perceive the world and its' occupants as existing only for the purpose of serving their own needs that are not to be denied.  It is for this very reason that psychopaths will rarely if ever respond to any punishment or threat of punishment, treatment or therapy for their inappropriate behavior.  This is also evident in the broad range of and often-large number of anti-social behaviors in which the psychopath will engage.

Psychopaths possess a very high threshold of cognitive and emotional stimulation that requires behavioral extremes to maintain any form of satisfactory or stimulating life style.  Coupled with a disregard for socially acceptable conduct, psychopaths are well known for engaging high risk, self-destructive behaviors that are also very devastating to those around them.  Blatant sexually deviant behaviors and promiscuity, major acts of sado-masochistic behavior, abandonment of family, schoolwork and jobs are not uncommon as are multiple acts of fraud, deceit, and blatant abuse and manipulation of others.

The interview of the psychopath is best accomplished when the interviewer bares in mind that the subject will not be swayed by pleas or appeals based on sympathy, remorse, regret or social obligation - as the psychopath is incapable of comprehending these concepts.  The interview should be based on a non-emotional format with the interviewer presenting the appearance that he or she already possesses all the known facts of the case. 

The dialogue with the psychopath should center on the following:

1. facts and specific examples of evidence and information;
2. that there are those who may in fact be impressed with the subject’s genuine individuality and independence;
3. that others around them are in fact weak and lack the fortitude to experience the fulfillment of life. 

Threats of punishment are of no use.

One interesting point however is that it would appear that the more these subjects are allowed to talk and even pontificate or sound off, the stronger and more resistant they become.  It will be imperative that the interviewer maintain focus and keep the subject on topic during the interview.  Admission or confessions occur because the subject delights in his or her behavior, the evidence of how everyone is shocked yet awed by their audacity and, ultimately, that they feel in some way the admission or confession serves some other form of their ego-fulfilling needs.

© 2009 by Stan B. Walters "The Lie Guy®"
Reprinted with permission
Stan B. Walters trains, teaches writes & does keynote speeches
internationally on deception, interview & interrogation.  He is
regularly called on by the media as an expert to comment on high
profile cases.

 

By Andrew G. Hawkes

Many moons ago at the ripe old age of 19 I began my law enforcement career.  I was still too young to become an officer so I became a dispatcher while I waited to go to the police academy. I figured I’d do the “easy” job of dispatching before becoming a cop and doing real police work. 

It sure didn’t take me long to realize that being an emergency telecommunications operator is no walk in the park.  The two years I dispatched was probably the toughest, most stressful two years of my 19 year career to date.

It takes a special person to be able to talk on three radio channels to multiple officers, answer phone lines and 911, while typing and documenting your every move into a CAD system, and oh, let’s not forget about operating NCIC as well.  Officers with dispatching experience realize the little things that don’t come through the radio frequency and can help make the dispatcher’s life easier, sometimes by just being a bit more patient, maybe for just a second or two.

We as officers tend to forget, or have no real knowledge of what dispatchers are going through during the course of a shift at work.  If it were up to me, the initial training of every rookie cop would be to be a fully trained dispatcher.  Now it’s nice that a lot of training programs make new officer’s “observe” by sitting in the communications division for a week or two.  But to me that’s about the same as being driven around a NASCAR track by Tony Stewart and expected to be as good as he is when you climb out of the passenger seat.

It is true that there is a love-hate relationship between dispatchers and the officers they take care of.  And that’s what it is ladies and gentlemen; they are taking care of you on the street.  Dispatchers and Officers both make mistakes, sometimes there is a lack of communication on either end of the radio, but in the end we are all on the same side and operating with the same goal in mind-Your safety.

After a high risk incident, Officers can sit on the curb and drank a Gatorade, put a dip of snuff in, or walk off and gather yourself for a few minutes.  Dispatchers have to sit in the chair, in that room and have no escape from the high stress incident they just handled over 911 and dealing with you barking orders at them over the radio.  It’s just on to the next phone call that is holding for them to take.

So next time you get a little angry when the dispatcher doesn’t answer your beckon call, I would encourage you to go sit in their chair for 8 hours and see what it feels like….You might find yourself buying them flowers the next day and begging for forgiveness.

 As for me, well, I believe that God made dispatchers so cops could have heroes too…

As Always, Stay safe and serve proud,

Andrew G. Hawkes
www.highwaydruginterdiction.com

 

Media Relations Lessons From Flight 1549: On January 15, 2009 Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger had to set his crippled US Airways Flight 1549 down on the Hudson River. All 155 people on board survived, but a routine day had suddenly turned into a crisis for him, his crew, his passengers, and his airline. The way the company’s CEO, Doug Parker, handled the media relations aspects of that crisis can be instructive for anyone in law enforcement who may face a critical incident of their own. Rule #1: Deal with the media right now !Never ignore the media or refuse any comment because you on’t have all the facts. Do that and you lose control of your story and lose essential credibility as well. You should deliver your first statement to the media within two hours after the crisis hits, and that’s exactly what US Airways’ Parker did. Rule #2: Be empathetic. Express your concern about the incident, your caring for the victims/citizens/community, and your commitment to making things right. Parker expressed his concern for the passengers and announced the airline had already set up a response team and a hotline to help them and their families. Rule #3: Always deal in facts and information. Tell what you know, not what you think you know. Everyone understands early ‘information’ is fragmentary and may change. Give the media what you can early on; then follow up with frequent updates. Never speculate. Parker not only refused to speculate, in his first statement he urged the media to avoid speculation, too. There’s much, much more, but following these 3 basic rules will go a long way towards helping you and your agency succeed in managing the media in a crisis. — Rick can be reached at 847-446-6839; email RickRosenthal@ileeta.org http://www.ileeta.org

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