Investigative Interviewing: Psychology, Method and Practice

by Ferraro (CPP, SPHR), Eugene

  5.4.1 Bulletized Summary Reports

  For many years, I prepared my reports in narrative form. With practice and con-

  siderable diligence, one can produce easy-to-read, well-written narrative reports.

  However, narrative reports are tedious and time consuming to write. Narrative

  reports also tend to lend themselves to inclusion of subjective remarks and the occasional conclusion. Alternatively, today, most of my reports are in the form of bulletized summations. I have found this format easy to write and easier for my reader to read and use. Figure 5.1 is a good example:

  Notice, if you will, how easy this reads. It is fluid and easily tells the story.

  Additionally, the reader can quickly and efficiently find and extract what he wants.

  Also notice that this format eliminates the common redundancies of the typical narrative report, such as the subject’s name, place, and date. Figure 5.2 is another example.

  Administrative Interviews and Communicating Our Results ◾ 139

  Interview of Mr. Erik Spicer

  Saturday, August 21, 2011

  Mr. Spicer stated:

  • He is the Vice President of Finance and has been an employee of

  Marathon Press (“Marathon”) since August of 1983.

  • He currently works at the Houston, Texas office located at 1541 Wilshire

  Boulevard, Suite 150.

  • Before joining Marathon he worked for Random House as an auditor for

  approximately fifteen years at its New York, New York headquarters.

  • He reports to Mr. Charles L. Davidson, President and C.E.O. and has done

  so for the past eleven years.

  • On Monday, August 16, 2011, he arrived at work at approximately 7:30 a.m.

  and opened the office for he was the first to arrive (see Exhibit C, Access

  Control Log dated August 16, 2011).

  • Upon entering the business’s executive office area in order to go to his

  office he noticed Mr. Davidson’s office door was open and his desk lamp

  was on.

  • Looking into Mr. Davidson’s office expecting to see him, he saw instead,

  Ms. Rene Williams at his credenza with what appeared to be a contract file

  in her hand.

  Figure 5.1 Sample of bulletized report.

  The presentation is tight and to the point. Overwhelmingly, my clients have

  grown fond of this format as well. Moreover, it can be used for nearly any type of investigative report and any type of situation. I strongly recommend you try it if you are currently not using it. The bulletized summary reports also easily lend themselves to the insertion and use of references, exhibits, and footnotes. Because I like to use footnotes in my reports, the bulletized summary report allows me to quickly insert a few words that otherwise might not fit or flow smoothly in the body of the report. For example, see Figure 5.3.

  Neatly, the footnote allows me to quickly provide additional information and

  context to what may appear to be an otherwise ordinary piece of information.

  Footnotes used in this fashion make the report interesting and more readable.

  Attorneys have used footnotes for years; isn’t it about time professional investigators and fact finders do also?

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  Interview of Ms. Mary Brown

  Tuesday, June 14, 2011

  Ms. Brown stated:

  • She has been an employee of XXX since July 2001, and is currently a

  maintenance clerk.

  • She knew Ms. Snell from her previous place of employment, Hills Pet

  Nutrition and that Ms. Snell was known as a liar there, just as she is known

  to be one now.

  • Ms. Snell hired her son-in-law (name unknown) at a wage, which

  exceeded his skills and experience.

  • She was resentful that Ms. Snell rated her performance substandard and

  Ms. Brown intends to appeal it.

  Figure 5.2 Sample of bulletized report 02.

  Bulletized summary reports also allow reports to be quickly and easily redacted.

  Redacted reports are sometimes required when providing information to the

  authorities or others who are not members of the investigative team. In order to protect confidentialities and, in some cases, privacy, redacted reports are sometimes necessary. Deleting individual bullets or groups of bullets is easy and fast. The same cannot be said when redacting narrative reports.

  Tip: Select a report format that best serves your purpose. Use a format that you find easy to prepare and your customer finds easy to use.

  Here are a few additional suggestions regarding reports:

  ◾ Ensure every report is clear, concise, and complete. The report should be a

  stand-alone document that can be read and understood by anyone.

  ◾ Prepare your report so that it tells a story. It should have a beginning, middle (or body), and an ending. Make sure your story is complete and precisely

  expresses that which is being reported upon.

  ◾ Ensure that your report objectively represents your investigative result.

  Subjective commentary and recommendations, even when appropriate, do

  not belong in an investigative report.

  Administrative Interviews and Communicating Our Results ◾ 141

  Interview of Ms. Susan Snell

  Tuesday, June 22, 2013

  Ms. Snell stated:

  • She has been an employee of XXX since August 2013, and is currently a

  scheduling supervisor.

  • She knew Ms. Brown from her previous place of employment, Hills Pet

  Nutrition and that they worked together closely for many years.

  • Ms. Brown frequently complains about the performance of others and

  often distracts others with her constant griping.

  • She hired her son-in-law, David Long approximately one year ago after

  receiving management approval from Stan Smith, Facility Superintendent.

  • Mr. Smith decided both the pay rate and job title of Mr. Long at the time

  he was hired and that she had no influence over either decision.*

  * This assertion is in direct conflict with the statements of Ms. Brown (dated June 14, 2013) and the first interview of Mr. Smith (dated June 15, 2011). It

  should also be noted that the employment application of Mr. Long dated April

  1, 2010, indicates that it was Ms. Snell who decided Mr. Long’s starting wage

  and it was she who approved a waiver for a pre-employment drug screening

  of Mr. Long (See report Exhibit Q).

  Figure 5.3 Sample of bulletized report entry with footnote.

  ◾ Do not use military time. Other than those with military or law enforcement

  experience, most people are unfamiliar with military time. It is professionally arrogant to use it when your customer cannot translate it.

  ◾ Do not use law enforcement terminology. Do not use terms such as agent,

  suspect, perp, busted, or any other form of cop-speak. It is unprofessional and makes for lousy reading.

  ◾ Do not opine on the subject’s credibility, truthfulness, or character.

  ◾ Do not offer a legal opinion or draw a legal conclusion.

  ◾ Do not use abbreviations or acronyms unless properly explained.

  ◾ Do not address the subject solely by his or her last name. Address the subject properly in the body of your report, and use Mr. and Ms.

  ◾ Use footnotes to provide supplemental information or context.

  ◾ Use footers on all of your reports. It looks professional and helps identify pages that have been separated from the original document.

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  ◾ Clearly mark the classification (i.e., COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL (or its

  equivalent), ATTORNEY WORK PRODU
CT) on each page of your report.

  ◾ Consider writing your reports in the third person, past tense. The use of first person should be reserved for statements, addenda, and affidavits.

  ◾ Spell-check and proofread all reports before submission.

  The most frequent shortcomings I see include:

  ◾ The report writer has a poor understanding of facts and/or topic.

  ◾ Disorganization.

  ◾ Communicating in the wrong language (using industry vernacular or acro-

  nyms no one knows).

  ◾ A general failure to meet needs or expectations of the reader.

  5.4.2 Findings of Fact

  For several years my firm has added another section to its reports. We call that section Findings of Fact. The information is provided in tight, easy-to-report snippets with one fact following that which preceded it. When done properly, it tells a story and the reader, when finished, should have no questions as to what the investigation revealed. Here is an example:

  ◾ Ms. Snell provided Ms. Brown the combination to the company safe in the

  finance office on October 21, 2012, via email (See Exhibit G).

  ◾ Ms. Snell did not have the authority to share the safe combination with Ms.

  Brown (see Exhibit L, PNNL Safe Security Policy).

  ◾ Ms. Brown used the combination to open the safe and took without permis-

  sion, $47,000 from it on the evening of October 22, 2012 (see Exhibit R, Ms.

  Brown’s Written Statement).

  Notice how one fact seems to build on the one that preceded it. The reader is

  easily able to see how the pieces fit together and from where the information came.

  Another interesting feature that has been added to some of our reports is a

  timeline. It dawned on me one day that I often used timelines when assembling the various pieces of an investigation. So, I decided to add a version of one to a report.

  The result was stunning. Visually, it is pleasing to the eye, but, at the same time, it was very functional. Try adding a timeline to your next report.

  5.4.3 Executive Summaries

  Another component of an investigative report is the executive summary. All of the interim and final reports my firm produces include an executive summary. The

  executive summary is a concise synopsis or snapshot of the entire contents of the

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  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  On December 15, 2013, Mr. John Smith of XYZ Company (“XYZ”), Denver,

  Colorado contacted Convercent, Inc. and requested investigative and

  consultative assistance in a matter involving alleged employee and vendor

  misconduct at the newly opened box plant in Anytown, California. According

  to Mr. Smith, several employees at the Anytown facility had alleged the plant

  manager and his plant superintendent had knowingly authorized contractor

  overcharging and were engaged in other inappropriate activities, much to the

  determent of the organization. Mr. Smith also stated that independent

  financial analysis of the box plant’s start-up costs and other indicators (see

  Exhibit A) suggested something was terribly wrong.

  The resultant investigation involved on-site information gathering, employee

  and contractor interviews and the detailed analysis of hundreds of records,

  invoices, purchase orders and requisitions. During the process, plant manager,

  Mr. Paul Jones admitted he had accepted personal services from a painting

  contractor for which he did not pay and authorized the overpayment of

  several hundred thousand dollars in invoices (see Exhibit M). His

  superintendent, Mr. Robert Miller admitted to have accepted $2,200.00 in cash

  from one contractor (Mr. William Redkin of Handy Services), who himself

  admitted paying it (see Exhibit J). Additionally, two other contractors admitted they had overcharged for their services to varying degrees or failed to

  maintain adequate records to justify their invoices.

  The total economic impact and scope of the fiscal misconduct uncovered at

  the Anytown facility has been impossible to determine. The lack of proper

  record keeping, internal process failures and managerial negligence at the

  location has frustrated any effort to accurately quantify the damage. However,

  demonstrably the loss exceeds $500,000.00.

  Figure 5.4 Sample of executive summary.

  report. It might include the identity of the person who requested the investigation and why they requested it, who performed the work and some indication of the

  overall result. I insist that my firm’s executive summaries not exceed one page.

  Figure 5.4 is an example.

  By holding the report writer to one page, the executive summary is forced to

  be concise, complete, and correct. I know from experience that clients and decision makers often haven’t the time or inclination to read a comprehensive report.

  A report produced as the result of a complex fraud or substance abuse investigation can sometimes exceed several thousand pages. We have produced reports exceeding 15,000 pages. Busy people haven’t the time to read a report of this size. What’s more, large reports are difficult to use. They are tough to lug around and it is hard to

  144 ◾ Investigative Interviewing

  find the information one wants in a large report. Most decision makers want to get to the bottom line. The best way to do it is by way of an executive summary. Respect your reader; include an executive summary in your next investigative report.

  5.4.4 Electronic Communications

  Electronic communications are a growing part of today’s workplace. The use of

  email is nearly universal and as important as the telephone to many organizations.

  Email is efficient and free, and is perfectly suited as a communication tool in most workplace investigations. For all of its benefits, email also has some disadvantages:

  ◾ It is not always secure. Unless precautions are taken, it is subject to potential interception and being read by other people.

  ◾ Unwanted distribution is difficult to manage. A recipient may forward email

  to unauthorized parties if precautions are not taken.

  ◾ It is discoverable. In the event of litigation, all electronic communications (and records thereof) exchanged during the investigation may be subject to

  possible discovery and production.

  ◾ Deleted email can often be recovered.

  Precautions can be taken to minimize some of these risks. For example, encryp-

  tion technology can be employed to reduce the potential of unwanted reading of

  email. Additionally, email retention and management protocols can be established to ensure the timely elimination of unwanted email. A client of mine recently

  learned the value of such a protocol. According to my client, his firm was forced to produce nearly 500,000 emails; one copy of each in both paper and electronic form for discovery purposes in litigation the firm was in.

  Electronically transmitting reports is another problem. It is common practice

  to simply attach a report to an email message. This exposes the report to the same risks described above. Protecting the document with a password or by other means is helpful, but by no means a perfect solution. A better solution is to store the report on a secure server with restricted access. A link to the report can be sent via email and upon receipt, the recipient follows the link and uses a user name and password to access the document. My firm uses this technology and our clients are very satisfied with it. Additionally, with a little programming, processes can be established that record when the report was accessed and by whom. Our system additionally

  tells us if the client copied or printed
the report. A log is permanently created to detail who, when, and what actions were taken every time a report on system had been accessed.

  Every email should contain a confidentiality notice. The purpose of the notice is to warn those who view the email that it is indeed confidential and intended only for a particular recipient. Here is the confidentiality warning that you might consider:

  Administrative Interviews and Communicating Our Results ◾ 145

  CONFIDENTIALITY WARNING: This email is for the confiden-

  tial use of the intended recipients only, and may be protected by the

  attorney work-product privilege. Any unauthorized review, access,

  copying, dissemination, distribution, or use of the content of this mes-

  sage/information is strictly prohibited by Federal Law. Anyone who

  attempts to intercept this message or distribute it without authorization

  is in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2511(1) of the Electronic Communications

  Privacy Act (ECPA). Fines, imprisonment, and/or civil damages may be

  imposed for violations.

  Every email leaving our offices from our professional services group includes

  this warning.

  Tip: Electronic communications are efficient and economical. However, users of this technology need to take the necessary precautions to protect the communication from interception and unauthorized use while preserving it for evidentiary purposes.

  5.5 Testifying and the Preparation for Testimony

  All fact finders must be willing and prepared to testify. Witness testimony is a critical component of our legal system. Its use is common in both criminal and civil proceedings. Regardless of how compelling some piece of evidence may be, its value can always be affected by testimony. For this reason, witness testimony is one of the most important elements of any proceeding. However, witnesses can only testify

  to what they have observed directly through the medium of their senses: sight,