Mapping the lie: A smallest space analysis of truthful and deceptive mock-informant accounts

Abstract

Detecting informant deception is a key concern for law enforcement officers, with implications for resource-management, operational decision-making and protecting officers from risk of harm. However, the situational dilemma of a police informant, otherwise known as a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS), is unique. Informants are tasked to obtain information about the transgressive actions or intentions of their associates, knowing they will later disclose this information to a handler. Thus, techniques for detecting deception in other forensic scenarios may not be transferrable to an informant interview. Utilising truthful and deceptive transcripts from a unique mock-informant role play paradigm, Smallest Space Analysis was used to map the co-occurrence of content themes. Results found that deceptive content frequently co-occurred with emotive and low-potency content themes. This provides support for the future analysis of verbal content when seeking to detect informant deception.

Keeping our wits about us: introducing a bespoke informant interview model for covert human intelligence source (CHIS) interactions

“…It is also worth remembering that the RWITS-US model was designed for use on established cooperative informants as this appears to be the dominant situation in practice (Kleinman, 2006;Nunan, et al, 2020a;Nunan, et al, 2020b), however, the process involved in recruiting informants and establishing that cooperative relationship is underresearched (Dabney & Tewksbury, 2016) and a greater understanding of this process could inform the implementation of the RWITS-US (or any other) interview model. Moffett et al (2021) found an overriding concern with detecting deception amongst informant handlers, and whilst deception was not manipulated in the current study, previous research has found that narrative analysis of a mock-informant account can assist in the identification of deceit (Moffett et al, 2022). Given that the RWITS-US model is specifically designed to elicit a gossip narrative, the detection of deceit may also benefit from its use, and this would provide another opportunity for future research.…”

“…Whilst the cognitive approach may not be suitable with informants, Moffett et al (2022) were able to manipulate deception within a simulated informant paradigm (incorporating the three stages of tasking, social interaction and de-brief) and found that the way in which informants presented their narrative role differed between truthful and deceptive participants, with deceptive content frequently co-occuring alongside content consistent with low-potency narrative roles. Although deception was not manipulated within the current study, the method adopted by Moffett et al provides handlers with a non-interventionary approach to detecting informant deception based on narrative analysis, and can therefore be employed following the elicitation of a normal narrative account.…”

“…It is possible that the informant is being completely truthful and accurate in their reporting, but the relationship with the PoI is such that the informant has themselves been deceived or misled. Finally, narrative analysis can be employed to assist in the detection of any possible deceit, with Moffett et al (2022) demonstrating that deceptive informants often express a low potency narrative role, such as a victim or a tragic hero.…”

“…Crucial to the development of this paradigm was the inclusion of three clear phases of an informant deployment: (i) receipt of tasking instructions; (ii) interpersonal engagement with a PoI, and; (iii) handler de-brief. Rarely have any other studies examining intelligence interviews utilised a paradigm combining each of these features (but see Moffett et al, 2022).…”