SAI FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
SAI for use in Law Enforcement situations
The Self-Administered Interview (SAI©) is a powerful evidence-based investigative tool that can be used to elicit comprehensive initial statements from witnesses, quickly and efficiently.
The SAI was developed to address the serious challenge faced by investigators when an incident occurs for which there are numerous eyewitnesses (e.g. a terrorist attack, a large-scale major incident or accident, serious assault on a train etc.). Any of these witnesses may hold potentially vital information about the incident and descriptions of the perpetrators i.e., information that will provide both critical leads for the investigation or compelling evidence in a trial. However, investigators may not have the resources in terms of time, expertise or personnel to conduct interviews with many witnesses shortly after an incident. The quality of eyewitness accounts is time-critical. As the delay between witnessing and a formal investigative interview increases, so too does that amount of information forgotten. Another important threat to accurate witness recall over time is contamination of the original memory by inaccurate information encountered between witnessing the event and providing the police with an account of the incident. Information encountered from co-witnesses, friends, family, local, national, and social media, can all pose a serious threat to witness recall accuracy.
Early stage development and testing of the SAI revealed that the SAI recall tool elicited significantly more information from witnesses with high accuracy rates. Furthermore, the initial completion of an SAI increased the amount of information provided by witnesses in a delayed interview. Subsequent research also showed that witnesses who complete an SAI are more resistant to misleading information encountered after an incident. These results (now replicated) indicate that the SAI not only facilitates memory retrieval but also protects against forgetting.
The Self-Administered Interview (SAI©) is endorsed by the UK College of Policing'(Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guidelines 2019)
“Probably the most valuable additional tool placed at our disposal in the world of investigative interviewing since the adoption of the ‘PEACE’ model in the early 1990s...”
Ian Hynes
Force Specialist Investigative Interview Manager and Advisor (Ret.)
Greater Manchester Police, UK
The SAI provides a means for obtaining high quality evidence from witnesses at the scene of an incident, or shortly afterwards, with minimal drain on resources. Not only that, the act of completing an SAI© protects a witness’s memory against forgetting and exposure to post-event information, such that the quality of their evidence is maintained during the time that passes between witnessing an incident and being invited in to give a statement.
In addition to benefits of enhanced witness recall, the tool also enables investigators to ‘prioritise’ witnesses for follow-up interview meaning that key witnesses are less likely to be overlooked and that resources can be appropriately allocated. Critically, the use of a standardised tool to elicit witness accounts limits any suggestion of ‘improper’ interviewing techniques and reduces any pressure from police or other interviewers which might be inadvertently perceived by witnesses.
Since 2009 the research team has worked closely with both UK and international police forces on the evaluation and implementation of the SAI with real witnesses. Developed, refined, and tested over 15 years, the SAI has made an important contribution to a number of live investigations by providing detailed initial accounts, enabling the efficient prioritisation of witnesses, and facilitating the identification of additional witnesses, in a range of criminal incidents.
“Notably, the SAI is the first empirically-derived interviewing practice development that has been presented to the police in almost 20 years, probably the most valuable additional tool placed at our disposal in the world of investigative interviewing since the adoption of the ‘PEACE’ model of interviewing in the early 1990s, and the introduction of the enhanced cognitive interview model.”
(Ian Hynes, formerly Force Specialist Investigative Interview Manager and Advisor, Greater Manchester Police, UK).
In 2019, the College of Policing issued new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guidelines for frontline police officers on obtaining initial accounts from eyewitnesses, that includes a strategic recommendation that “Interview advisers should consider use of the Self-Administered Interview in single incidents involving high numbers of witnesses”.
Read the APP on Initial accounts here.
More recently, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the College of Policing issued updated policy guidance specifically advising for the use of the SAI to facilitate timely accounts from crime victims or witnesses, particularly those who were shielding or self-isolating.
Why was the SAI developed?
The SAI was originally developed to address the serious challenge faced by investigators when an incident occurs for which there are numerous eyewitnesses.
To facilitate the recollection and reporting of memories, the two most effective components of the Cognitive Interview are used; Mental Reinstatement of Context and Report Everything. Further sections of the SAI© require witnesses to provide as much detail as possible about the appearance of the perpetrator(s), vehicle(s), and other relevant persons, such as other potential witnesses. Non-leading cues are provided in these sections to facilitate recollection. Witnesses are also asked to generate a sketch the general layout of the scene including positions of themselves in relation to other persons present (perpetrators and other witnesses). Instructions throughout request that witnesses complete the SAI© alone and provide the most complete and accurate account possible while avoiding guessing.
Completing an SAI© not only provides investigating officers with useful information, but helps strengthen and preserve the witness’s memory, thus preventing against forgetting and protecting against exposure to potentially misleading post-event information. This is because the act of retrieval enhances the subsequent retention and recall of information. This effect is proposed to occur, at least in part, due to the elaboration and activation of memory traces that can result when retrieval processes are engaged during remembering. Retrieval attempts can also facilitate subsequent remembering by creating different retrieval routes to access the originally encoded information. An early recall attempt can therefore increase the activation level of items of information in memory as well as the associations between them.
Having a ‘strong’ memory for an event offers some protection against exposure to misleading post-event information as people are more likely to notice discrepancies between their original memories for the event and any post-event information received. Research has shown that witnesses who complete an SAI© are less suggestible when face with items of misleading post-event information, or leading questions.
The Self-Administered Interview (SAI) is endorsed by the UK College of Policing
Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guidelines 2019
How does the SAI work?
How does the SAI work? The SAI is a protocol of instructions and questions, based upon well-established cognitive theories of remembering, that support eyewitnesses when recollecting and recording their memories of an incident.
To facilitate the recollection and reporting of memories, the two most effective components of the Cognitive Interview are used; Mental Reinstatement of Context and Report Everything. Further sections of the SAI© require witnesses to provide as much detail as possible about the appearance of the perpetrator(s), vehicle(s), and other relevant persons, such as other potential witnesses. Non-leading cues are provided in these sections to facilitate recollection. Witnesses are also asked to generate a sketch the general layout of the scene including positions of themselves in relation to other persons present (perpetrators and other witnesses). Instructions throughout request that witnesses complete the SAI© alone and provide the most complete and accurate account possible while avoiding guessing.
Completing an SAI not only provides investigating officers with useful information, but helps strengthen and preserve the witness’s memory, thus preventing against forgetting and protecting against exposure to potentially misleading post-event information. This is because the act of retrieval enhances the subsequent retention and recall of information. This effect is proposed to occur, at least in part, due to the elaboration and activation of memory traces that can result when retrieval processes are engaged during remembering. Retrieval attempts can also facilitate subsequent remembering by creating different retrieval routes to access the originally encoded information. An early recall attempt can therefore increase the activation level of items of information in memory as well as the associations between them.
Having a ‘strong’ memory for an event offers some protection against exposure to misleading post-event information as people are more likely to notice discrepancies between their original memories for the event and any post-event information received. Research has shown that witnesses who complete an SAI© are less suggestible when face with items of misleading post-event information, or leading questions.
SAI distributed to witnesses at the scene or shortly afterwards
Witnesses complete the SAI independently using proven psychological cues & tools
The act of completing a Self Administered Interview is proven to protect memory
Officers review the completed SAI
Developed, tested and refined over a decade
Used by Police forces and investigators globally
Key research findings
In early tests of the SAI, mock witnesses (comprising a sample of community volunteers of all ages and background) viewed a simulated crime event and were required to report as much as they could about what they had seen.
Witnesses in who completed the SAI tool reported 42% more correct details than those participants who were simply asked to report what they had seen. In subsequent tests, mock witnesses who had completed the SAI tool shortly after witnessing the event provided almost 30% more correct details when interviewed after a delay than those who had not made an earlier recall attempt (Gabbert et al., 2009).
Subsequent research has replicated and extended these findings. Specifically, we have found that mock witnesses who complete an SAI after witnessing a simulated crime remember more information following a delay of one month, than do control participants (who have not completed an SAI) after a delay of one week (REF). Furthermore, mock witnesses who complete an SAI are more resistant to the misleading effects of exposure to post-event information and produce more information in a subsequent cognitive interview (Gabbert et al., XXXX).
Ten years on, these initial findings have been replicated and extended by other labs around the world. A recent meta-analysis of studies using the SAI© has confirmed that witness accounts obtained via the SAI© result in more detailed accounts than other reporting formats, and that completing the SAI© soon after an event protects the memory of that event from forgetting and manipulation over time, leading to more detailed subsequent accounts (Horry et al., 2021).
Key Developments
NHS Marauding Terrorist Incidents
We are currently working with the NHS on adapting the Self-Administered Interview for marauding terrorist incidents.
SAI used in Aviation Incidents
In 2021 a version of the Self-Administered Interview was developed for aviation incident investigations, and used to great effect following a….
College of Policing endorse the SAI
In 2019, the College of Policing released new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guidelines for frontline police officers on obtaining initial accounts from eyewitnesses, that includes a strategic recommendation that "Interview advisers should consider use of the Self-Administered Interview in single incidents involving high numbers of witnesses”.