What Tactics Can Police Use to Get a Confession?

Police interrogation tactics haven't changed much in decades. Physical abuse and outright torture are unconstitutional, but psychological pressure, trickery, and deception can be fair game for investigators trying to secure a confession. But, not anything goes. If police coerced a confession through threats, false promises, or extreme duress, the judge can throw out the confession.

What Is a Police Interrogation?

Police question witnesses and suspects all the time, but they only need to notify a person of their constitutional rights—with a Miranda warning—when conducting a "custodial interrogation." A custodial interrogation doesn't need to be at a police station. It can occur anywhere—in a cop car, on the street, or in a jail, for instance. The key is whether a reasonable person would feel free to leave. If not, you're "in custody."

So, if police ask you to come to the station for questioning and you go down voluntarily, they don't have to Mirandize you. Anything you say can be used against you. You can ask if you're free to leave. If police say no, you might want to invoke your right to remain silent and ask for a lawyer.

What Tactics Can Police Use to Get a Confession?

If police are focused on getting a confession, they must do so within the confines of the U.S. Constitution or risk having a confession tossed out. Certain tactics—like physical harm and threats—are not allowed. But lying is. For instance, police can claim an accomplice already confessed, that DNA evidence proves your guilt, or that a witness saw you at the scene—none of it has to be true. Police can't make false promises, though, such as offering up immunity from prosecution.

The line between a legal bluff and an illegal threat isn't always obvious, even to the people being questioned. Only confessions made freely and voluntarily by a suspect will be admissible as evidence of guilt. If police tactics induced a confession through coercion, threats, or fear, the confession is involuntary, and the judge must exclude it from the case. Coercion, threats, and intimidation tactics used by police violate a suspect's constitutional rights.

How Do Courts Decide Whether a Confession Was Voluntary or Involuntary?

Courts evaluate confessions on a case-by-case basis. Factors a court will typically review include:

• tactics used by police
• the length, continuity, and nature of the interrogation
• conditions of the interrogation (handcuffs, small room, bathroom breaks)
• whether Miranda rights were read
• whether investigators made false promises or threats, and
• the suspect's age, education, intelligence, and physical and mental condition.

A judge must look at all the circumstances surrounding the interrogation to determine whether the suspect's will was overcome by physical or psychological tactics. Below we review some of these tactics.

Can Police Lie in an Interrogation?

Yes, police can lie during an interrogation—as long as the lie doesn't cross the line into a false promise or threat. Courts have stated that false promises can make a confession involuntary, because they create a risk the suspect relied on the promise, whereas trickery and deceit don't carry the same risk. Threats, meanwhile, make a confession untrustworthy.

For instance, police can lie and say an accomplice already confessed and implicated the suspect. An investigator can lie and claim evidence at the crime scene clearly proves guilt. But an officer can't threaten a suspect with harsher punishment for failing to cooperate. Similarly, police can offer to tell the prosecutor about a suspect's cooperation—but they can't falsely promise that the prosecutor won't press charges if the suspect confesses.

(Frazier v. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731 (1969); State v. Collins, 435 S.C. 31 (2021); People v. Andersen, 101 Cal. App. 3d 563 (1980).)

Can Police Threaten or Harm a Suspect in an Interrogation?

No. The following police tactics violate a defendant's constitutional rights:

• physical abuse or violence
• threats of harm, violence, or other repercussions, and
• deprivation of essential needs, such as water, bathroom breaks, sleep, or long periods of isolation.

Unlawful threats don't always have to involve violence. They can include other repercussions. For example, a court found a confession involuntary when police threatened a suspect with additional charges if he didn't confess. Other involuntary confessions have resulted from threats to take away a suspect's children or cut off state aid to their family.

What Are Examples of Legal Police Interrogation Tactics?

Police can generally use the following tactics to get a confession:

• lie about evidence, accomplice statements, or DNA results
• isolate the suspect for a short period of time
• appeal to the suspect's religion or beliefs
• show the suspect a picture of the victim's body
• impersonate a fellow inmate
• fake another person's arrest
• play good cop-bad cop (the Reid Technique), or
• strongly suggest that confessing is in the suspect's (or someone else's) best interest.

However, if police deploy numerous tactics simultaneously, or if the suspect is a minor or has a mental impairment, a court might still find the resulting confession involuntary.

How Common Are False Confessions?

False confessions are more common than one might think. While there are no exact numbers, the Innocence Project's exoneration data shows that approximately 28% of exonerated cases involved false confessions.

Psychological research shows that juveniles and people with diminished mental capacity face a significantly higher risk of false confessions, largely because they're more susceptible to pressure, more likely to trust authority figures, and less equipped to understand the long-term consequences of what they're saying. But even mature adults of average intelligence can be worn down and manipulated into believing whatever police are telling them happened.

What to Do If You're Being Interrogated by Police

The goal of a police interview should be uncovering the truth. And it might be hard to believe an innocent person would confess to a crime they didn't commit, but it happens—sometimes out of fear, to protect someone else, out of exhaustion, or to end the interview and go home.

If you're being questioned by police, it's important to know your rights.

• Ask if you're free to leave. It doesn't matter whether you're at a police station, at home, or on the street. If police haven't taken you into custody in the legal sense, you're generally free to leave without answering questions. If officers say you're free to go, it's often best to do so. If you're not free to leave, you can ask for a lawyer and invoke your right to remain silent.
• Invoke your right to remain silent. You might think giving police some information will clear you, but that option can be risky. Something you say might inadvertently incriminate you. You can tell officers you want to invoke your right to remain silent. And although it sounds counterintuitive, the best way to invoke the right to remain silent is by clearly saying it.
• Ask for a lawyer before answering any questions. You also have the right to have a lawyer present during questioning. Once you ask for a lawyer, police must stop questioning you.
• Don't assume officers are being truthful. Lying and playing good cop-bad cop are standard, legal parts of their playbook.
• Don't assume the absence of a Miranda warning helps you. Often, it means the opposite—your statements could be used against you. Miranda rights only kick in when you're in custody (not free to leave) and police are questioning you.

Understanding these rights and staying calm can help protect you during police questioning.

Can Police Use the Same Interrogation Tactics on Children?

The laws in this area are changing—in the direction of providing more protections for children. Children face a heightened risk of making a false confession. Minors are considered more susceptible to coercion and intimidation, and many don't fully understand their rights or the legal process, which puts them at a serious disadvantage in the interrogation room.

A growing number of states have passed laws specifically restricting how police can question minors. For instance, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Oregon, and Utah have laws restricting the use of certain deceptive police tactics when questioning minors in custody. Several states require recordings of juvenile interrogations and allow a juvenile to ask for a parent or lawyer to be present. Police who don't provide these protections risk having any statements made by the child deemed inadmissible in court.

Are Police Interrogations Recorded?

It depends on the state. While many states require police to record certain interrogations, most limit this requirement to investigations for murder, sexual assault, and other serious felonies. Very few require that all interrogations be recorded. And even in states with recording requirements, exceptions exist. For instance, police might not need to record an interrogation when equipment malfunctions, a suspect refuses to be recorded, or interrogation is conducted off site.

Also, a violation of a recording requirement doesn't necessarily make a confession off limits. Some state laws establish a presumption of inadmissibility. But, generally, these laws allow the prosecution to overcome the presumption if they can prove the statements were voluntarily given.

Will a Case Be Dismissed If the Confession Is Excluded?

Not automatically. Your defense attorney will likely file a motion to suppress that asks the judge to toss out the confession based on it being involuntary. If the judge grants the motion and excludes the confession, this ruling likely weakens the prosecution's case, especially if the confession was key to the charges. But it's not an automatic dismissal. The prosecutor might have other evidence to support those charges. It will depend on the circumstances of your case.

Ask for a Lawyer

If you're accused of, charged with, or questioned about a crime, contact a criminal defense attorney or ask for a public defender before answering any questions or making any statements. Even innocent suspects can make inadvertent mistakes that cause serious problems later. An attorney can help you understand your rights and what information, if any, you should share with investigators.