Introduction
It is impossible to imagine from a Christ-centered perspective that one can accept a crime that he did not commit. In some of the confessions done during police interrogation are cooked; hence the suspects get penalties which they do not deserve. Many jailed people are in prison because they confessed that they did a crime which they even do not have an idea about. Most of the suspects during interrogation process are forced either physically and mostly psychologically to confess that they did the crime. Approximately, 27% of wrongful convictions in the US involve false confessions (Lassiter, & Meissner, 2010). Typically, this study hypothesizes the reasons why innocent suspects confess falsely to have committed a crime which they never did. The research shows the strategy of police investigation processes against the legal system and Christian’s values which might force the suspect to accept committing a crime. Also, the study gives detailed information, on the psychological forces which are exercised by police to make innocent suspects admit other people’s sins.
False confessions
In some cases, the confessions which are made during police interrogations are falsely given. Considering the case of Trisha Meili who was brutally beaten and raped in the New York City Central Park in 1989, a group of five boys falsely accepted to have committed the crime. The police suspected them because they had harassed other people before the rape incidence. After a lengthy interrogation which took a day and a half, finally, the five boys accepted the act and confessed they had raped the girl. All the five boys who admitted were convicted whereby their sentence ranged from 5 to15 years in prison. Unfortunately, in 2002 when a prison inmate, Matius Reyes, was converted religiously and confessed that he is the one who raped Meili. Reyes. Proving that he was the one responsible for Meili’s case, the DNA of the semen which was found on jogger’s was tested and matched with the DNA of Reyes. This incident raised a total confusion; the other confession from the boys showed that they raped the girl and now someone else has claimed that he committed the crime. This confession and the evidenced DNA match showed that the other five boys were innocent. Reyes confession meant that the boys were either physically or psychologically intimidated by the police which resulted in the false confession. On the Christians’ perspective and according to the legal system it is wrong to threaten someone to confess.
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Interrogation Strategy
The interrogation tools which are used by the police force innocent people to accept being guilty of crimes which they did not commit. Typically, during the interrogations by the police, they use powerful psychological tools which force the guilty ones to accept their crimes. Noticeably, when the same devices are used on innocent people, there is a probability of accepting crimes in which they are not responsible. Regarding the case of the five boys, the interrogation was carried for one and a half days until they confessed. During this interrogation, maybe the police were forcing the boys to accept the crime but not focusing on getting the truth behind the matter. It the responsibility of the police to gather sufficient evidence about the criminals and secure the convictions. Through careful analysis of the crime scene, significant physical evidence can be retrieved. In this case, police believed boys to be responsible for the crime; hence they questioned the suspects intending to elicit a confession. The recently conducted research shows that about 43% of the suspects make a full confession during the police interrogation while approximately 14% make incriminating statements (Gudjonsson & Pearse 2011). The police claim that they can elicit 68% of self-incriminating statements of the suspects during interrogation. The legal system should provide rules regulating the interrogation process and be centered on Christian values and morals.
Police Pressure
The police exert more pressure on suspects to confess even if they did not commit the crime because confessions save time with reduced investigation period. They don’t want to go deep to investigate the cases; hence they prefer admissions. Besides, trials can be avoided as a suspect who confesses usually pleads guilty. The people who confess, streamline the tedious process of gathering and examining shreds of evidence since the confessing suspects direct the police officers where to find hard proofs like guns. Through confessions, the prosecutors gain the guarantee to convict the suspects. Mostly, juries convict defendants who have undergone admission of committing a crime. When a suspect confesses, he or she is put on a track of conviction. Even if the confession is false, the juries are unable to recognize the disclosure as faked. Most of the guilty suspects tend to resist their acts; thus the police carry out an interrogation process to break down their resistance. The interrogation techniques used by the police officers have moved from the third degree (physical violence) to psychological means. Earlier before 1930, police used to beat people or suspects and show brutality to the suspects to confess their crimes (Kassin, 2013. Through exertion of unnecessary pressure on suspects, the police leave the suspect with confession as the only way out of trouble. This act demoralizes the human rights and against the Christianity culture.
Psychological Mistreatment
The psychological mistreatment done on innocent suspects in the interrogation room make them accept a crime. In the modern interrogation room, it is now common that police rely mostly on psychological techniques. The police have now adopted a playable character as a technique whereby one acts as a ‘bad’ cop while the other acts as a ‘good’ cop. The fundamental goal of this technique is to create a psychological discomfort which will make the suspect lose control of the situation. The police partners aim to make the suspect believe that the bad cop would punish him thoroughly. On the other side, the good cop pretends to control the lousy cop not to punish the suspects. In this mood, the good police urge the suspects to tell the truth so that he can help him and protect him from the bad cop. If the suspect continues to deny the crime, the good police show disappointment and try to indicate that he has done everything which he could have done to help the suspect. For that matter, the friendly cop threats to leave the suspect on the hands of the bad cop. Unfortunately, there is a probability that an innocent suspect would be afraid of being severely punished by the bad cop, and thus the suspect accepts the crime to avoid the police brutality.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the police interrogation techniques have resulted in false confessions. To avoid the police brutality, the suspects tend to prefer jail sentence. Force confessions are not supported by legal rights in the states. On the Christianity perspective, the police should build new strategies which will not scare innocent people to accept other people’s crimes. Although the police strategy has shifted from physical violence to psychological means, the suspects continue to give false confessions. This fact reveals that mental approach to extract confessions from a suspect is not working effectively. The research has shown that some people have been jailed for crimes which they did not commit although they confessed to having committed them. This study has hypothesized reasons why people give false confession during interrogation processes by the police. It has shown that many people accept their crimes as a mean to rescue themselves from the brutality of the police in the interrogation room. Eventually, the forces which are exerted on the suspects are illegal and do not comply with the Christianity norms.
References
Lassiter, G., & Meissner, C. A. (2010). Police interrogations and false confessions: Current research, practice, and policy recommendations . American Psychological Association.
Gudjonsson, G. H., & Pearse, J. (2011). Suspect interviews and false confessions. Current directions in psychological science , 20 (1), 33-37.
Kassin, S. M. (2013). A critical appraisal of modern police interrogations. Investigative interviewing: Rights, research, regulation , 207-227.
