Skip to content

Investigative interviewing

Investigation — Authorised Professional Practice

All topics

Summary

Investigative interviewing is a fundamental aspect of policing that aims to uphold high standards when interviewing victims, witnesses, and suspects. Effective interviewing is crucial as it directs investigations and gathers material that can lead to prosecutions or the exoneration of innocent individuals. Conducting professional and quality-assured interviews not only supports the prosecution case but also enhances public confidence in the police service, especially among victims and witnesses. The information obtained from those directly involved in or witnessing a crime is invaluable, often outweighing other evidence sources like CCTV footage and forensic material. Thus, developing skilled interviewers within police forces is essential for conducting successful investigative interviews.

Key principles

  • 1Interviewing is central to successful investigations.
  • 2Quality interviews can lead to prosecutions or exoneration of innocents.
  • 3Professional interviewing increases public confidence in policing.
  • 4Valuable information comes from direct interviews rather than solely from forensic evidence.

Defined terms

Investigative interviewing
The process of interviewing victims, witnesses, and suspects to gather material for investigations.

Full guidance

This page is from APP, the official source of professional practice for policing.

Investigation is a core duty of policing. Interviewing victims, witnesses and suspects is central to the success of an investigation and the highest standards need to be upheld.

Forces need to develop and maintain the valuable resource of a skilled interviewer. Interviews that are conducted professionally and quality assured realise several benefits. In particular, they can:

direct an investigation and gather material, which in turn can lead to a prosecution or early release of an innocent person * support the prosecution case, thereby saving time, money and resources * increase public confidence in the police service, particularly with witnesses and victims of crimes who come into direct contact with the police

Without the accounts of those who played a central role in the crime, or those who have witnessed an important aspect of the commission of a crime, other sources of material such as CCTV images, fingerprints and forensic material, although extremely important, may have little value.

Conducting investigative interviews is, therefore, a crucial element of the process of investigation .

Do not provide personal information such as your name or email address in the feedback form. Read our privacy policy for more information on how we use this data

What is the reason for your answer?

Reproduced from the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice under the Open Government Licence v3.0, as captured on 2026-06-27. APP is amended over time — check the source link below for the current version. This is a reference, not operational authorisation.

APP is the authoritative source for UK policing practice and is updated over time. For the current, official version — including any operational detail not reproduced here — go direct.

Read the full APP guidance

Source: College of Policing — Authorised Professional Practice · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-27.