Investigative Interviewing: Psychology, Method and Practice

by Ferraro (CPP, SPHR), Eugene

  ◾ Upon arrival, the individual should be escorted to a convenient and private

  area. Once seated, the designated communicator should say in a warm, yet

  professional tone:

  (Insert subject’s name here) as you know, our organization has been built on a reputation of treating all employees with respect and dignity. Unfortunately, we have learned that your recent behavior has not been consistent with

  that reputation, nor has it been in accordance with our policy regarding

  workplace conduct. As such, and consistent with our policy regarding such

  behavior, we have no choice but to terminate your employment.

  Alternatively, if it is decided to allow the subject to resign, the last portion of the communication might read:

  332 ◾ Appendix 10

  As such, and consistent with our policy regarding such behavior, we have

  no choice but to terminate your employment. However, in lieu of your (pick

  one: time in service, level of cooperation, historic value to the organization, etc.), we have decided to allow you to resign in lieu of termination.

  There should be no discussion of details or dialogue defending the decision.

  Stress that the decision is simply a matter of policy. If offering the opportunity to resign in lieu of termination, do so only if the individual also is willing to sign a release. Offer to pay the individual for the balance of the day or through the next business day. Ask that the individual return any remaining property belonging to the organization he/she may possess. If asked, indicate whether or not unemployment benefits will be contested. Indicate that organizational policy will be adhered to relative to the request for references or the verification of employment.

  At the completion of the meeting, the now ex-employee should be watched

  until he leaves the location. If appropriate, law enforcement should be notified and a report made. Again, determine the need for contract security and make the necessary arrangements. Notify the appropriate parties at headquarters. Allow the supervisor of the individual to communicate to his department that the terminated individual is no longer an employee and that he will be replaced immediately (if appropriate). Change locks, security codes, passwords, etc. to ensure that the former employee is unable to gain access to the facility at a later time.

  In order to aggressively quash all rumors about the employee and his sudden

  departure, some dialogue with the workforce is recommended at this time. Final

  action has been taken and it is appropriate to communicate necessary informa-

  tion to other employees. However, emphasis should be made to quash rumors and

  encourage the return of normal operations. Here is a suggested script to follow: As many of you know, (insert subject’s name here) was recently placed on

  administrative leave. An internal investigation has been completed and

  (insert subject’s name here) is no longer an employee of our organization.

  It is imperative that no one speculates, theorizes, or in any way speaks disrespectfully of (insert subject’s name here). Furthermore, it is unfair to talk about him and what has taken place. However, (insert subject’s name here)

  has been instructed not to have any contact with you or the organization.

  Should he contact you or return to the facility, contact (name of appropriate party) immediately. I expect every employee to put this issue aside and focus on his or her own work. Thank you.

  If asked about employee safety, indicate that the organization has examined the need for additional security and, for the time being, no further security is necessary (or other appropriate response). Document every action and every communication.

  Later, reiterate the organization’s policy regarding violence in the workplace and its commitment to maintaining a safe working environment for everyone. Debrief the

  Appendix 10 ◾ 333

  target and other concerned parties. Ask that they maintain a security mindset and report any unusual or inappropriate behavior or contact by the aggressor immediately.

  Debrief the team and determine if any further action is appropriate. Remind

  team members and employees that they can help protect themselves and their co-

  workers by exercising the following simple steps:

  ◾ Plan ahead and prepare for the unexpected

  ◾ Treat co-workers with respect and dignity

  ◾ Respect visitors and customers

  ◾ Be aware of strangers and of one’s surroundings

  ◾ Report inappropriate behaviors and activities immediately

  Prevention

  Though an employer cannot be expected to provide an impenetrable island of

  safety for its employees, supervisors and managers are expected to do as much

  as possible to promote safety and prevent workplace violence. Employees can

  be trained to deescalate tense situations and avoid conflict. Supervisors and

  managers also can enforce company policies fairly and consistently and allow

  employee complaints and grievances to be heard. As noted earlier, aggressive

  behavior is disruptive and dangerous and often is the byproduct of unresolved

  grievances. Consequently, supervisors and managers must provide employees

  the opportunity to resolve problems and air grievances. The perfect vehicle is

  an anonymous incident reporting system or whistleblower hotline. In almost

  every case of workplace violence in which I have had involvement or studied,

  someone knew of the intentions of the aggressors. Unfortunately, and all too

  frequently, those who knew of the impending danger had neither a safe nor

  convenient way to communicate their information. If your organization does

  not currently have such a system, use what you have learned in this chapter

  to make the case for one or seek the professional services of firms like mine at Convercent.com. In summary, organizations concerned about aggression in the

  workplace should:

  ◾ Make a commitment to workplace safety.

  ◾ Create practical and sound policies that address workplace violence and aggression.

  ◾ Better screen applicants and identify individuals with problems before they

  are hired.

  ◾ Allow all grievances to be heard and resolve workplace problems early.

  ◾ Quickly address poor performance and inappropriate workplace behavior.

  ◾ Hold supervisors and managers accountable.

  ◾ Teach kindness.

  ◾ Never hesitate to call for help.

  334 ◾ Appendix 10

  Endnotes

  1. E. F. Ferraro, Investigations in the Workplace, 2nd ed . (New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2012), 456.

  2. James S. Cawood, A Plan for Threat Management (Santa Monica, CA: Protection of Assets Manual, 1994).

  3. E. F. Ferraro, Investigations in the Workplace, 2nd ed., 459–460.

  Annotated Bibliography

  ASIS International, Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention (ASIS/

  SHRM WVPI.1-2011), 2011.

  This Standard provides an overview of policies, processes, and protocols that

  organizations can adopt to help identify and prevent threatening behavior

  and violence affecting the workplace, and to better address and resolve threats and violence that have actually occurred. The document describes the personnel within organizations who typically become involved in prevention and

  intervention efforts; outlines a proactive organizational approach to work-

  place violence focused on prevention and early intervention; and proposes

  ways in which an organization can better detect, investigate, manage, and—

  whenever possible—resolve behavior that has generated concerns for work-

  place safety from violence. The Standard al
so describes the implementation

  of a workplace violence prevention and intervention program, and protocols

  for effective incident management and resolution.

  Black, H. C., Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th ed., West Publishing Company, St.

  Paul, MN, 1997.

  Provides definitions of basic legal terms and phrases used in various branches

  of law throughout English and American history. Easy to read and under-

  stand and extremely useful to the lawyer and nonlawyer alike.

  Cawood, J. S., and M. H. Corcoran, Violence Assessment and Intervention: The Practitioner’s Handbook, 2nd ed . , CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2008.

  This book supplies concrete, practical approaches to applying behavioral

  science to threats of violence in communities, businesses, and schools, and

  describes how to effectively intervene to preserve the safety of victims.

  Grounded in the authors’ experience in successfully assessing and managing

  thousands of cases in a variety of contexts and environments, this practical

  handbook provides a precise methodology for analyzing potential threat situ-

  ations and taking action before tragedy occurs. The book begins by demon-

  strating the violence risk assessment process from the point of the initial call and proceeds through the steps that quantify the situation and determine

  the appropriate response. The next section covers information gathering,

  335

  336 ◾ Annotated Bibliography

  victimology, and formulas and tools for risk assessment. Finally, the book

  explores organizational influences, ethics, security and consultation issues,

  and laws related to violence assessment.

  Collins, James C., Built to Last, Harper Business, New York, 2002.

  Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate

  School of Business, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras took 18 truly excep-

  tional and long-lasting companies and studied each in direct comparison to

  one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very

  beginnings to the present day—as start-ups, as midsize companies, and as

  large corporations. Throughout, the authors asked: “What makes the truly

  exceptional companies different from the comparison companies and what

  were the common practices these enduringly great companies followed

  throughout their history?” The book is filled with hundreds of specific exam-

  ples and organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can

  be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels.

  Dempsey, John S., Introduction to Investigations, 2nd ed . , Cengage Learning, Farmington Hills, MI, 2002.

  This is a basic introductory text for college students who are interested in

  learning who investigators are, what they do, and how they do it. Dempsey

  has designed a text that gives students a general overview of investigations

  so they can understand why and how investigations are conducted. This text

  also introduces students to what types of jobs are available in the investigat-

  ing industry and what skills are needed to obtain these jobs.

  Fay, J. John, Encyclopedia of Security Management, Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, MA, 1993.

  This is a must-have guide for all security professionals, and an essential

  resource for those who need a reference work to support their continuing

  education. In keeping with the excellent standard set by the first edition, the second edition is completely updated and emphasizes topics not covered in

  the first edition, particularly those relating to homeland security, terrorism, threats to national infrastructures (e.g., transportation, energy, and agricul-ture), risk assessment, disaster mitigation and remediation, and weapons of

  mass destruction (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives).

  Fay also maintains a strong focus on security measures required at special

  sites, such as electric power, nuclear, gas and chemical plants; petroleum

  production and refining facilities; oil and gas pipelines; water treatment and

  distribution systems; bulk storage facilities; entertainment venues; apartment

  complexes and hotels; schools; hospitals; government buildings; and financial

  centers. The articles included in this edition also address protection of air,

  marine, rail, trucking, and metropolitan transit systems.

  Ferraro, E. F. Investigations in the Workplace, 2nd ed., Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 2012.

  Annotated Bibliography ◾ 337

  This voluminous work provides both novice and experienced investigators

  with the most insightful and useful information available on the methods

  and processes for the proper and safe investigation of workplace crime and

  misconduct. Gleaned from Ferraro’s nearly three decades of experience, the

  book is designed for easy reading and use—dispelling common myths and

  presenting new approaches, methods, and strategies. Revised and updated

  with more methods, techniques, and case studies, this powerful book also

  includes new diagrams, checklists, and visuals to help readers put the mate-

  rial in context and make their investigations soar. Each chapter begins with

  Key Learning Points and is supplemented with boxed Tips, Traps, and

  Common Mistakes. An exhaustive appendix includes a glossary of common

  investigative terms, sample surveillance and investigative reports, advice on

  digital evidence, and more.

  Ferraro, E. F., Undercover Investigations in the Workplace, 1st ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, MA, 2000.

  As security professionals, lawyers, personnel directors, and corporate execu-

  tives are confronted by the demands of loss prevention, asset protection, and

  ever-expanding employee rights, there is a growing demand for more up-

  to-date information about workplace investigations. This book defines and

  explores the process of undercover investigations as well as delving into the

  legal aspects of undercover and the role of an effective litigation avoidance

  strategy. Undercover Investigations makes a rational and authoritative plea for legitimacy of undercover in the workplace. The work is sufficiently detailed as to serve the reader who is contemplating an undercover investigation for the

  first time, or one who uses them regularly. It contains several modern case

  studies, statistics checklists, and references making it an authoritative work

  on the subject of undercover and workplace investigations.

  Hall, Edward T., The Hidden Dimension, Anchor Books, New York, 1990.

  This carefully written work is an examination of various cultural concepts of

  space and how differences among them affect modern society. Introducing

  the science of “proxemics,” Hall demonstrates how man’s use of space can

  affect personal business relations, cross-cultural exchanges, architecture, city planning, and urban renewal.

  Hare, R. D., and P. Babiak, Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, 2006.

  Snakes in Suits is a compelling, frightening, and scientifically sound look at exactly how psychopaths work in the corporate environment: what kind of

  companies attract them, how they negotiate the hiring process, and how they

  function day by day. The work examines the means of assessing potential

  targets, controlling influential victims, and abandoning those no longer use-

  ful—to business processes, such as hiring, political c
ommand and control,

  and executive succession, all while hiding within the corporate culture. It’s a must-read for anyone in the business world, because whatever level you are at,

  338 ◾ Annotated Bibliography

  you will learn the subtle warning signs of psychopathic behavior and be able

  to protect yourself and your company.

  Howard, Philip, K., The Death of Common Sense, Random House, New York, 1994.

  This concise and eloquent manifesto shows how the excess of government

  regulations does not protect Americans, but instead acts as legal quicksand,

  stifling growth and creating paralyzing over-bureaucratization. Using blood-

  boiling examples of government regulations run amok, Howard reveals a

  society in which rules have replaced thinking—allowing law to infiltrate the

  nooks and crannies of everyday life.

  Inbau, F. E., J. E. Reid, J. P. Buckley, and B. C. Jayne, Criminal Interrogation and Confessions, 5th ed., Aspen Publishers, Inc. Gaithersburg, MD, 2011.

  Criminal Interrogation and Confessions presents the Reid Technique of interviewing and interrogation and is the standard used in the public sector. This

  updated fifth edition presents interviewing and interrogation techniques,

  based on actual criminal cases, which have been used successfully by thou-

  sands of criminal investigators. This practical text is built around simple psychological principles and examines interrogation as a nine-step process that is easily understood by the reader.

  Khalsa, Mahan, and R. Illig, Let’s Get Real, Franklin Quest Co., Salt Lake City, UT, 1999.

  Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig offer an insightful and easy to comprehend

  new approach to sales. Salespeople, they argue, do best when they focus 100

  percent on helping clients succeed. When customers are successful, both

  buyer and seller win. When they are not, both lose. It’s no longer sufficient

  to get clients to just buy, a salesperson also must help the client reduce costs, increase revenues, and improve productivity, quality, and customer satisfac-tion. A great read.

  Lewis, Michael, The New New Thing, Penguin USA, New York, 2001.

  As American capitalism undergoes a seismic shift, Michael Lewis, author

  of the bestselling Liar’s Poker, sets out on a Silicon Valley safari to find the true representative of the coming economic age. All roads lead to Jim Clark,