Notwendigkeit einer kritischen Prüfung von Methoden zur Lügenerkennung und Vernehmungstaktiken zur Informationsgewinnung von Beschuldigten: ein Positionspapier aus Psychologie und Polizei

Police decision-makers and investigators in Germany regularly receive training offers on methods for lie detection and interview/interrogation tactics for suspects. However, some of those methods and tactics are unserious. Ineffective or untested methods and tactics should not be used by the police, as they can have serious consequences for innocent people (e.g., detention, social damage) and the population (e.g., further crimes by the actual perpetrators, decreasing trust in police investigative work). Particularly problematic are pseudoscientific offers that provide non-systematically tested or even proven ineffective methods/tactics that appear to be scientifically based (e.g., because of the title or job description of the offering person). This position paper aims to highlight this issue and wants to encourage individuals in police training and practice to critically scrutinize offers and to focus on theoretically sound and proven effective methods for assessing false statements (e.g., based on inconsistencies) and concepts for interviewing suspects.