Building and maintaining rapport in investigative interviews

Research shows that rapport has a number of positive effects on interviewing. Defined here as a smooth, positive interpersonal interaction, rapport can increase the amount of information provided by witnesses and sources, increase trust, and produce more cooperation, and faster agreement in negotiations. Despite the importance of rapport, law enforcement and intelligence interviewers often fail to build rapport adequately. This study identifies seven tactics for rapport building supported by empirical research, such as nonverbal mimicry and self-disclosure. Other considerations for practitioners include potential trade-offs of rapport-building tactics, source resistance, and the use of interpreters. These topics also represent rich areas for future research.