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High-Risk Interrogation: Using the “Mr. Big Technique” to Elicit Confessions

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Law and Human Behavior

Abstract

Kassin et al. (Police-Induced Confessions: Risk Factors and Recommendation, 2009) provide a detailed and thoughtful analysis of how police interrogation practices might elicit false confessions from innocent suspects. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a brief review of a relatively recent development in Canadian police investigation practice and discuss how this procedure may increase the likelihood of police-induced false confessions. The so-called “Mr. Big Technique” is a non-custodial interrogation tactic wherein suspects are drawn into a supposed criminal organization (actually an elaborate police sting) and subsequently told that to move up in the organization, they must confess to a crime. In this article, we describe this remarkable interrogation technique and discuss issues relevant to the potential induction of false confessions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Steven M. Smith, Veronica Stinson & Marc W. Patry

Authors
  1. Steven M. Smith
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  2. Veronica Stinson
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  3. Marc W. Patry
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven M. Smith.

Additional information

Commentary on: Kassin, Drizin, Grisso, Gudjonsson, Leo, and Redlich (2009) Police-Induced Confessions: Risk Factors and Recommendations

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Smith, S.M., Stinson, V. & Patry, M.W. High-Risk Interrogation: Using the “Mr. Big Technique” to Elicit Confessions. Law Hum Behav 34, 39–40 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-009-9203-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-009-9203-y

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