Recording your interviews is critical to a case. It doesn’t matter if it is a witness, suspect, or business owner. Get into the habit of recording your interviews to make sure you are capturing the most detail possible. If you choose to use direct quotes, you will need the audio recording to support that statement in your report. In fact, more than 25 states require officers to record all custodial interviews. [1]
Relying on just body-camera recordings for interviews can also be an issue if your agency restricts the use of post-incident viewing. In those cases, a simple audio recorder will be beneficial.
And if you are in any detective unit, picking a good interview software or voice dictation recorder can make documenting interviews in a police report quicker. You can tag key points in the recording and reference the exact spot of the recorded statement in your police report.
Reference
1. Bang BL, Stanton D, Hemmens C, Stohr MK. Police recording of custodial interrogations: A state-by-state legal inquiry. International Journal of Police Science & Management. 2018;20(1):3-18
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