The Pros and Cons of Conducting Virtual Investigative Interviews

Virtual investigative interviewing is no longer simply a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across policing, workplace investigations, regulatory investigations, fraud investigations, and other investigative settings, platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have become a routine means of conducting interviews.

The advantages can be significant. Virtual interviews can reduce travel, increase scheduling flexibility, connect investigators and interviewees across considerable distances, and allow investigations to proceed efficiently when an in-person interview may be difficult or impractical. But convenience does not necessarily mean equivalence.

Moving an investigative interview from a physical room to a computer screen changes important aspects of the interviewing environment. Investigators must consider technology, privacy, environmental control, distractions, communication flow, rapport, the presentation of evidence, note-taking, recording, and even who or what may be outside the camera's view.

Importantly, these are not necessarily arguments against virtual interviewing. Many of the apparent "cons" are better understood as considerations that can be anticipated and managed through effective planning and interviewer adaptability.

Using the PEACE investigative interviewing framework as an organizing structure, Bruce Pitt-Payne will examine the practical advantages, limitations, and considerations associated with conducting investigative interviews virtually during this 60-minute webinar.