Interrogation techniques

Different types of human subjects will share information voluntarily or involuntarily. The interrogator builds a relationship with the subject, a relationship that can be based on trust, fear, friendship, or any of a range of human emotions. Prisoners have an understandable fear of what may happen, and, contrary to " tough guy" images, it can be important to relax him and, to the extent possible, put him at ease.

Physical pressure will often yield a confession, true or false, but what an intelligence interrogation seeks is a continuing flow of information.

Assuming the subject (prisoner) has been under guard, the screener often can get valuable information about the subject's behaviour from the guards. They can tell the screener how the source has responded to orders, what requests have been made by the source, what behaviour has been demonstrated by the source, and so forth. Along with the basic contact information, such observations can be extremely helpful to the interrogator, who can study the information before the interview. Having background on the subject helps the interrogator retain the initiative in an interview.

Again for prisoners, screeners should examine the documents captured with the source and any documents pertaining to the source. If the subject is voluntary and providing documents, they may even be more valuable. Screeners may need to get help from linguists or document specialists in understanding the material. If the documents have insignia or other graphics, these should be compared with an existing graphics register, and added to it if they are new.

Documents captured with the source (identification card, letters, map sections, and so forth) can provide information that identifies the source, his organisation, his mission, and other personal background (family, knowledge, experience, and so forth). This information can be used to verify information from documents captured with the source and further assess his willingness to cooperate. When examining documents, screeners should look for items that will indicate whether the source is cooperative or willing to cooperate based on any specific personal interest.

If the source has information pertaining to new foreign material, contact appropriate TECHINT specialists, and if the source has information of target exploitation interest, contact the appropriate staff members who deal with targeting. These specialists are not necessarily qualified interrogators and may need to meet jointly with the subject and interrogator, or pass questions to the interrogator.

Selecting potential sources (interrogation and counter intelligence)

It involves evaluating an individual, or group of individuals, " to determine their potential to answer [intelligence] collection requirements or to identify individuals who match a predetermined source profile. The goal of the process is to identify individuals who may have information of interest, and are willing or can be persuaded to cooperate. Willing individuals will undergo debriefing and unwilling people may be interrogated.

Screening techniques also can select individuals who may be prospects to collect intelligence or work, in other ways, with the HUMINT organisation or its sponsor. Individuals may also be identified who are of interest to counterintelligence or to technical intelligence specialists.

It is likely that an individual with wife/girlfriend/children will be targeted as potential sources as they are viewed as more susceptible to bribes/pressure than single men.