Future interrogation and interviewing Technologies For centuries man has always tried to find ways to communicate more efficiently, when it came down to preventing crimes, investigating crimes and solving crimes. Therefore the study of future technology and methods has sparked the interest of scientist and developers to create a systems or method that would prove to be just as accurate as our DNA system is today. Their goal is to utilize this technology within an interview or interrogation setting.
When it comes to detecting if someone is tell the truth, scientist are working on new technology that promises to be more accurate for lie detection. If these new technologies prove to be successful, not a violation of the suspect’s constitutional rights and the results become admissible in the court of law. This would then become a major breakthrough for investigators; when interviewing a suspect in an interrogation room.
When speaking to witness officers so often relay on line up and photo’s (Mug spots) which are stored within in their computer data base. Scientists are also working on ways to present witness the virtual evidence, tele-presents of the suspect by means of Holograms. Holograms are used today but may be used in the future during interrogation and interview rooms. Holograms would actually be put in place of the actual interrogator or interviewer. The benefit of this technology is using an image of the victim with hopes of scaring a confession from the criminal. Another use would be in a hostage situation, the hologram could act as the negotiator.
How far are scientists willing to go? How far is society willing to let science go with future criminal technology? Brain imaging has been used to identify tell-tale activity linked to lying, violent behavior, and racial prejudice. Systems are currently being worked on today by scientists that can read complex thoughts, which will pick them up before the person is conscious of it. This type of research breaks controversial new ground in scientists’ ability to probe people’s minds and eavesdrop on their thoughts, and raises serious ethical issues over how brain-reading technology may be used in the future.
Many neuroscientists in the field are very cautious and say “we can’t talk about reading individuals’ minds.” “Do we want to become a ‘Minority Report’ society where we’re preventing crimes that might not happen?” Professor Colin Blakemore, a neuroscientist and director of the Medical Research Council, said: “We shouldn’t go overboard about the power of these techniques at the moment.
Another technology being researched to assist with interviewing and interrogating is “Brain Fingerprinting” otherwise referred to as BF testing. BF is an examination designed to determine if particular information is familiar to a test subject in a specific context (such as that of a crime). A BF test is a procedure in which an individual is hooked up to a sensory headset and subjected to numerous stimuli, which are then flashed on a computer monitor. These stimuli will either be familiar to the subject or unfamiliar, and the electric response of the subject’s brain will indicate accordingly on a subconscious and uncontrollable level. The administrator of the test must use extreme caution when selecting the probes in such a manner that someone who does not know about the crime would find them as equally plausible as the irrelevant person chosen. A BF result of “information present,” however, is not the same as a judicial finding of guilt. Likewise, a result of “information absent” is not the same as a judicial finding of innocence. The judge and jury must weigh the BF test results along with other evidence in any given case.

References

Farwell, A. L. (November 15, 2006) The Role of Brain Fingerprinting in Criminal Proceedings. http://brainwavescienc.com/Role
CBS television broadcast 48 Hours (June 14 2002) To Tell the Truth www.lexisnexis.com
ABC television broadcast Good Morning America (March 9, 2004) Brain Fingerprinting: New Technology Provides Advanced Lie-Detector Test. www.lexi.com
Moenssens, A. A. (2002) UMKCL. Rev. 891,920 Brain Fingerprinting-Can It Be Used to Detect the Innocence of Persons Charged with a Crime?
Brian Fingerprinting Laboratories, About Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories, (November 15, 2006) http://brainwavescience.com