Kids, Cops, and Confessions: Inside the Interrogation Room

Juveniles possess less maturity, intelligence, and

competence than adults, heightening their vulnerability in the justice system.

For this reason, states try juveniles in separate courts and use different

sentencing standards than for adults. Yet, when police bring kids in for

questioning, they use the same interrogation tactics they use for adults,

including trickery, deception, and lying to elicit confessions or to produce

incriminating evidence against the defendants.

In Kids, Cops, and Confessions, Barry Feld offers the

first report of what actually happens when police question juveniles. Drawing

on remarkable data, Feld analyzes interrogation tapes and transcripts, police

reports, juvenile court filings and sentences, and probation and sentencing

reports, describing in rich detail what actually happens in the interrogation

room. Contrasting routine interrogation and false confessions enables police,

lawyers, and judges to identify interrogations that require enhanced scrutiny,

to adopt policies to protect citizens, and to assure reliability and integrity

of the justice system. Feld has produced an invaluable look at how the justice

system really works.