Ethical police interviews with Islamist terror suspects : the significance of suspect behavioural, cultural and identity characteristics

Arguably, one of the most difficult challenges facing law enforcement officers today is carrying out interviews with Islamist terror suspects. These interviews are often carried out in a context of fear, anger and distress and there is often significant political pressure upon law enforcement to get results. Some law enforcement officers may be motivated to obtain information from terrorist suspects by any means possible, with a risk that approaches to interviewing involving threats and aggression may be regarded as acceptable and even, in certain circumstances, desirable. This chapter will consider some of the issues interviews with Islamist terror suspects present for law enforcement and will consider how interviewers might balance their legitimate need to obtain information with an ethical interviewing approach informed by psychological theory and extant knowledge of Islamist Extremism.