The Remote Interview System (RIS) has been designed on the core principles of the PEACE Cognitive interview technique. It has been developed to preserve and protect eyewitness memory by eliciting a detailed recall account at the scene of an incident or soon after it.
Eyewitness memory of an incident is under threat in two key ways.
In witnessing any situation, Memory is prone to decay and this ‘forgetting’ will occur naturally and within hours of the incident.
When the time delay between witnessing an incident and a formal interview increases, memory decay will level off. So while witnesses may still be able to provide a general account, potentially vital details for the investigation may have been irretrievably lost.
Another important threat to accurate witness recall is contamination of the original memory by erroneous information. (Speaking with others about the incident and mixing up information).
This is encountered between actually witnessing the event and providing the investigator with an account of the incident.
To address both these problems, Interview Skills have designed the RIS ‘tool’ that will help Organizations protect witness memory at the scene of an incident or soon after.
RIS form has been developed so the witness is focused on giving a free recall of the incident remotely.
They are given a clear set of written instructions and questions that can be easily be understood by the witness using cognitive instructions.
In studies, witnesses who used the RIS tool are more likely to recall 40% more correct details than those witnesses who were simply asked to report what they had seen.
The RIS tool prevents against memory loss and would have a massive impact on any investigation when a witness cannot be interviewed at the scene of an incident or soon after.
Eyewitness memory of an incident is under threat in two key ways.
In witnessing any situation, Memory is prone to decay and this ‘forgetting’ will occur naturally and within hours of the incident.
When the time delay between witnessing an incident and a formal interview increases, memory decay will level off. So while witnesses may still be able to provide a general account, potentially vital details for the investigation may have been irretrievably lost.
Another important threat to accurate witness recall is contamination of the original memory by erroneous information. (Speaking with others about the incident and mixing up information).
This is encountered between actually witnessing the event and providing the investigator with an account of the incident.
To address both these problems, Interview Skills have designed the RIS ‘tool’ that will help Organizations protect witness memory at the scene of an incident or soon after.
RIS form has been developed so the witness is focused on giving a free recall of the incident remotely.
They are given a clear set of written instructions and questions that can be easily be understood by the witness using cognitive instructions.
In studies, witnesses who used the RIS tool are more likely to recall 40% more correct details than those witnesses who were simply asked to report what they had seen.
The RIS tool prevents against memory loss and would have a massive impact on any investigation when a witness cannot be interviewed at the scene of an incident or soon after.