Mandate the Electronic Recording of Police Interrogations
Crime and Public Policy, Vol. 6
8 Pages Posted: 10 Jun 2008
Abstract
This article argues that mandatory electronic recording of police interrogation is a policy reform for which the overwhelming benefits and minimal costs can no longer be denied. By creating an objective and reviewable record, electronic recording promotes truth-finding in the criminal process, relegates "swearing contests" to the past, and saves scarce resources at multiple levels of the criminal justice system. Electronic recording of interrogations will not only benefit police and prosecutors by increasing the accuracy of confessions and convictions, and thus better protect public safety, but it will also reduce the number of police-induced false confessions and the wrongful convictions they cause.
Keywords: criminal procedure, criminal justice, electronic recording, law enforcement, interrogation
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