Why is rapport so important in the investigative interview and the wider investigation process?

Investigative interviewing is an essential ingredient in the investigative process. It is the obtaining of every person’s account who are involved within the investigation whether they be victim, witness or the person of concern.

During investigations, some of the information obtained from any of the individuals may be formal or informal. Some people may be happy for you to share the information they provide, and some may not. Regardless of that, it is the investigator’s vital role to obtain that information by asking questions of the interviewee. This is the investigators interview.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines rapport as a “friendly relationship in which people understand each other very well” and the United Kingdom (UK) College of Policing suggest, following research conducted by various studies, that when weighing up the evidence, building rapport with interviewees can expand the amount of information provided and it’s accuracy (COP, 2020).

Investigators need to build and maintain rapport throughout the investigative process.  It is required before an interview takes place, throughout the interview and during the closure in order to obtain the information. With the building of good rapport, there is a very real likelihood the amount of information and the accuracy of it, will be increased.

Scholars have argued the importance of rapport during the interview process, such as Lynn Weiher who stated, “One well-endorsed approach for eliciting detailed and accurate information is building rapport between the interviewer and interviewee” (Weiher, et al, 2023, p.1) and Zacharia Nahouli who indicates, to facilitate communication between parties, rapport building is effective and can be used in many interviewing contexts (Nahouli, 2021). This latter statement also suggests that rapport building in interviewing is useful in several types of interviews, whether criminal, safeguarding or disciplinary. In general terms, the necessity to build rapport is a common thread throughout the investigative interview.

In the practical elements of an investigation, rapport is the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee and, the approach of the interviewer can have a huge impact on the interviewee’s responses during the investigative process. How one approaches any discussion with an individual is the essence of building the rapport, gaining the trust of the person concerned, or, the child who wants to disclose an issue, the teacher who needs to be interviewed surrounding their conduct in the workplace or the sports coach, who’s practices edge towards bullying and intimidation, and, the serious complex family matters which are heard in the family court.

It is important to consider that the approach an investigator takes when speaking to any person involved in the case, is part and parcel of the investigative process and therefore rapport is not limited to the planned structured interview. Every phone call, meeting and discussion is all part of the same goal – to achieve accurate information regarding the circumstances of concern, and it is evident that rapport can be crucial for this.

Rapport is placed centrally in the investigative interview (Caproni, 2008) and research conducted by Allison Abbe and Susan E Brandon shows rapport has several positive effects on interviewing and that, it can enhance trust, and provide more cooperation, and more swift agreements when negotiating (Abbe & Brandon, 2014).

It is important to recognise that scholars suggest rapport can be wider than standard criminal interviews where, traditionally, an officer asks questions of an interviewee to gather evidence for a case file. As noted here, Abbe and Brandon suggest good rapport assists in faster negotiations which is important for investigators involved in safeguarding or workplace disciplinary cases. A relationship where two parties trust each other and have good rapport can help to resolve cases for all parties concerned which can give complainants and witnesses a sense of closure and trust in an organisation, in addition to robustly dealing with the person/s of concern to protect victims primarily, all of the individuals and the organisation.

So how do we build good rapport?

There is no exact science in achieving good rapport and whilst there are a number of tips, which will be summarised below, our advice is that the stance of officialdom is dropped, being honest and keeping promises, an approachable manner and always striving to be available when needed. Being yourself as a person.

The UK College of Policing provides a number of essential tips in building good rapport. None of these prerequisites are outside the norms of being a good decent person with a keen interest in genuinely resolving matters of concern. Some of the tips are as follows:

·      Taking your time and being gentle with victims.

·      Patience and perseverance.

·      Treating witnesses as individuals.

·      Being calm and relaxed in addition to respecting someone’s personal space.

Scholars working in this area also identify that active listening, empathy and using the interviewee’s name is helpful in building rapport in addition to body posture, eye contact and head nodding (Gabbert et al., 2020).

Most people who work in the arena of investigations should already possess these natural attributes and because of that, you may be the person that a child discloses a concern to.

This blog is simply to remind you of the importance of rapport, of how it is central to the investigative process extending beyond a structured interview, and to show it extends beyond just a person of concern to obtain information. Good rapport is paramount for all concerned in the case.