Our Distinguished Keynote Speakers
Professor Lorraine Hope
Lorraine Hope is Professor of Applied Cognitive Psychology at the University of Portsmouth and a core member affiliated with the Information Elicitation programme of the UK National Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST; https://crestresearch.ac.uk). She is also the Strategic Lead for the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG).
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Over the past 20 years, her research has resulted in the development of innovative tools and techniques, informed by psychological science and practitioner need, for eliciting accurate and detailed information and intelligence across a range of investigative contexts (e.g. Timeline Technique, Self-administered Interview, Structured Interview Protocol). Her work has had global impact and she regularly delivers tools, research, evaluation and training for investigative interviewing and information elicitation in international policing, intelligence and security sectors, including inter- and multi-national agencies, such the Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG).
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Current Project:
Working with international investigators to develop policy recommendations for informing the conduct of investigative interviews in cross-cultural contexts. As a leader in interviewing research developments, and experienced in working with a range of stakeholders and end-users, Lorraine presents and publishes extensively on interviewing and applied memory topics.
Professor Fiona Gabbert
Fiona Gabbert is a Professor of Applied Psychology, and Director of the Forensic Psychology Unit at Goldsmiths University of London. She also chairs the Scientific Committee of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG).
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Fiona’s research in the fields of suggestibility of memory and investigative interviewing has a strong focus on improving the usability, credibility, and reliability of evidence from witnesses. Her work has had an international impact on operational procedure and policy including the introduction of new evidence-based investigative interview tools and training resources to the field such as the Self-Administered Interview, the Structured Interview Protocol, and the Timeline Technique. Fiona regularly works as a collaborator and consultant with practitioners and policy makers to develop and embed effective investigative interview practice.
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Current Projects:
Collaborated with the College of Policing (UK) involved developing new evidence-based interview guidelines for frontline officers tasked with eliciting initial accounts (launched October 2019).
A​dvising on the development and drafting of a Universal Protocol on Investigative Interviewing that will support the legal prohibition of torture by introducing ethical, non-coercive, and evidence-based policy and practice to facilitate the disclosure of reliable information.
Keynotes
Eliciting information from witnesses, victims and sources: Working effectively with memory as an investigative interviewer
Speaker: Professor Lorraine Hope, University of Portsmouth, UK
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Overview
Solving crimes, mitigating security threats, and protecting the public often relies on interviewers obtaining detailed information or intelligence about what happened - or what is about to happen. Effective interviews with witnesses, victims, suspects and sources that elicit accurate and detailed information are crucial and the onus is on the interviewer to maximize both the quality and quantity of information obtained. Critical to that skill is an understanding of memory – and an appreciation of the reasons why even entirely cooperative interviewees do not spontaneously report all the information they know. In this keynote, I will examine some of these reasons from a memory perspective and discuss techniques and tools developed in our lab, in collaboration with practitioners, to maximise information gain.
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Putting research findings into practice to promote best-practice investigative interviewing
Speaker: Professor Fiona Gabbert, Goldsmiths University of London, UK
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Overview
Poor investigative interviewing practice leads to incomplete witness accounts at best and unreliable or biased evidence at worst. Substandard evidence denies victims and witnesses the justice they deserve by limiting the usability, credibility, and reliability their testimony. It also obstructs legal decision makers in their role of dispensing appropriate justice to the guilty. This keynote will discuss the role of psychological research in supporting evidence-based investigative interviewing. A focus will be on the (often frustrating) path from the lab to the street, to examine how research findings can inform practice. The development of new investigative interview guidance in the UK and internationally will be outlined to show how academics and practitioners can work together to promote best-practice investigative interviewing.