Policing
Enhancing problem-solving by offender interviews
This guide provides a summary of the most important findings from offender interviews and offers recommendations on how offender interviews should be conducted for problem-oriented policing projects. It also provides a step by step description on how to interview offenders.
Title: Using Offender Interviews to Inform Police Problem Solving
Author: Scott. H Decker
Series: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services - Problem-Oriented Guides for Police: Problem-Solving Tools Series No. 3
Date published: April 2005
Number of pages: 62
Availability: Download full report 
PDF 164Kb
Interviewing offenders provides information on victims, offenders and places, thus giving a better picture of general crime patterns. This information is very useful when generating problem-solving interventions.
Summary of findings from interviewing offenders
Offenders are versatile. There are few specialists out there. Most offenders employ a cafeteria-style approach to offending, that is, offenders engage in a variety of offences and are opportunists. This is especially clear amongst drug-involved offenders.
Offending has peaks and valleys. Even the most active offender takes periods of time away from offending. This is the best opportunity to link offenders to services as well as to use additional problem-solving techniques (e.g. probation and parole, drug treatment, community services).
There are several possible motives for active offenders. These include partying, keeping up outward appearances, group processes, self protection and retaliation. Few crimes are committed to meet pressing economic needs such as rent or car payments.
Lifestyle plays an important role in offending. Interviews with active offenders show us more about the lifestyle of the offender than interviewing those in prison. They show us the "code of the street", a set of values about being tough, not backing down, and protecting one's reputation.
Victimisation among offenders is very high and motivates them to offend. There is little loyalty among offenders, many of whom victimise each other or don't partner well with each other for the long term.
Offenders do respond to sanctions or the threat of sanctions, but only in a limited way and under certain circumstances. The viability of threats is linked to lifestyle issues and limited rationality. Traditional methods of deterrence rarely work among committed offenders.
Offender careers have a beginning and an end. Hastening the end, postponing the beginning, and reducing the peaks each require different strategies but each will pay dividends.
Procedures for conducting interviews with offenders
- Establishing the goals of interviews
- Choosing who to interview
- Determining who should conduct the interview
- Finding appropriate subjects
- Convincing subjects to participate
- Maintaining field relations
- Conducting interviews
- Sorting out the truth
- Analyzing the interview results
- Presenting the findings
- Applying the interview results to tactical and strategic problem-solving.
You can find more detail on how to conduct interviews by downloading the full report.
Download: Using Offender Interviews to Inform Police Problem Solving PDF 164Kb
Last update: Monday, August 04, 2008