James L. Trainum is retired from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. as the Violent Crimes Case Review Project Director- Detective from 2000-2010
James has been interviewed on the topic of interrogation and false confessions by The New Yorker, The New York Times, and National Public Radio. Trainum has also been quoted in the American Psychological Associations white paper on the topic of false confessions and in numerous other articles and editorials. He speaks at many conferences and other events to talk about the topic of false confessions and interrogation techniques.
He is the author of How The Police Generate False Confessions: An Inside Look at the Interrogation room.
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A really interesting and informative interview. Its so interesting to hear that exactly the same issues have been raised in the UK in the past. Fortunately we moved across to the PEACE interview model for both witnesses and suspects, in fact the best interviewers i have known and listened to you would be hard pushed to know whether they are interviewing a witness or a suspect. The REID method will continue to result in false confessions especially of the vulnerable and intimidated suspect. I know that some investigative institutes in the US are moving towards the PEACE model, this should be accelerated. Evidence convicts not convictions
Thank you for your inciteful comments. I will be interviewing PEACE experts before year’s end. Stay tuned