On November 25, 2011 an article was written by Joseph Brean in the National Post on line newspaper in Canada, critical of the Reid Technique. Click here for the complete article -

Here is the response that we sent to the author:

Dear Mr. Brean,

Your recent article, "You're guilty, now confess: False admissions put police's favourite interrogation tactic under scrutiny" in the National Post News does not accurately reflect the full context of the Canadian courts' view of the interrogation techniques that we teach, and is misleading on our position regarding the issue of false confessions.

At the outset, we make very clear in any and all of our training programs (and written materials) that the only interrogation techniques that an investigator can use are those approved by the courts (Canadian/US respectively).

Secondly, when the interrogation is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines established by the courts, the community is served by the resolution of cases.

In an article that we wrote we have included comments from the Supreme Court of Canada on the type of techniques that we include in our training - http://www.reid.com/educational_info/canada.html. A balanced article would have included many of these comments rather than the passing statement you made.

Furthermore, in both the 4th and now 5th edition of our book (just published), Criminal Interrogation and Confessions, we included an extensive chapter on the issue of false confessions, entitled, "Distinguishing between True and False Confessions" which includes a litany of safeguards that should be put in place - http://www.reid.com/store2/detail.html?sku=cic4th.

In addition, a part of our training manual addresses the issue of false confessions:
Click Here

Critics of the Reid Technique often misrepresent what we teach - in a recent article that we wrote we point out some of these issues: http://www.reid.com/educational_info/r_tips.html?serial=1309864251267367&print=[print]

Finally, as you reference, the PEACE model is essentially the first phase of the Reid Technique:
Click Here

Joseph P. Buckley
President
John E. Reid and Associates
800-255-5747 ext 19