The Confession

False confessions happen more frequently than you might suspect.

In 1991, the Bronx District Court wrongfully convicted 16-year old Huwe Burton after the alleged suspect confessed to a murder he didn’t commit. Psychologist Saul Kassin, a leading expert on interrogation, has found that Burton’s case is no exception. According to the Innocence Project, more than a quarter of the 365 wrongful convictions the NGO helped to overturn involved a confession by the innocent suspect.

Several factors can increase people’s vulnerability to succumb to interrogation pressure and admit to their alleged wrongdoing. These factors include a suspect’s young age, mental impairment and substance addiction. Adolescents, in particular, are easily intimidated by authority and are vulnerable to being “persuaded” during interrogations that they did something they didn’t do.

Growing evidence suggests that conventional police interrogation techniques are deeply flawed.

The go-to training manual for US police is based on an interrogation technique developed by former Chicago detective John Reid in 1962. The technique teaches interrogators to start with...