Forensic Linguistics—Statement Analysis

Interviewing suspects, victims and witnesses is part of street police work and detective work alike. Statements can back up information you already know or can provide you with new insight or a new perspective. However, there is another way you can use statements and that is to delve even deeper into a situation to find the truth. You should never take a statement as fact or at face value. More often than not, there is more that you can uncover.

Quick history of forensics linguistics

It has been said that forensic linguistics was used in the ancient era of Greek play writing to determine whether someone ripped someone off of their play or not. It was not until the late 1960s that the practice of forensic linguistics was accepted. A linguistics professor by the name of Jan Svartik first mentioned it. From there it expanded until it not only increased in popularity in the literary world but also the investigative one.

Statements in general

Statements help law enforcement piece together what may have happened in a situation. There are elements of statements that can be looked into further as mentioned before; no statement should ever be taken at face value. There are a few key factors to keep in mind when you review someone’s statement.

Ask yourself the following:

• Do they give too much information?

This can be a sign of nervousness but it can also be an inadvertent admission of guilt. For example, if you are questioning someone about a homicide and they tell you details such as what color shirt they had on or can tell you the time to the minute, those are actually red flags.

Does the color shirt they have on matter? No, it is a form of distracting you from what they are saying. Time is an important factor but if they know down to the exact second it is a red flag that they were that enthralled with the time and not the situation at hand.

Note: This isn’t always the case but often is.

• Does their statement contradict itself?

This is a huge point to pay attention to. So many times there are cases where someone makes a statement and then retracts it or changes it. Always ask yourself: ‘If they were telling the truth, why wouldn’t they just be upfront in the first place?’ Sometimes there are other factors or “reasons” for someone changing their statement, however, it should always raise a red flag when they do change their statement. “Good” reason or not, if there is a change at all, you need to pay attention.

• Do they interject random thoughts that allude to guilt?

There will be times when an interviewee will voice a fact the may or may not be relevant to the question. At times these little facts may shed light upon whether the person is guilty or not. For example, if they are relating a story to you regarding the situation you are inquiring about, (let’s say it’s a homicide) and all of the sudden they throw in the statement they don’t know where the knife, AKA murder weapon, came from, that’s odd. Take note of the oddities people say. If this happens attempt to get them to elaborate more—everyone loves talking about themselves. Express interest and you are sure to get a reaction or some information.

These tips are just a few to get you started when it comes to analyzing your statements or cases. It should also be noted that it is far easier to pull apart, study and analyze a written statement versus a spoken one. (If you have to conduct your analysis from a transcript that is fine as well—it will accomplish the same thing.)

Linguistic uniqueness—fingerprints in statements

As we all know, fingerprints are extremely unique and each one is so rare that there are no two fingerprints that are alike. In the same way, people often have a unique way of writing or speaking and expressing thoughts. It should be made clear that this is not a defined forensic or evidentiary practice; it is merely one way to look at statements to uncover facts or traits of the individual. People will often make references to certain situations or allude to particular slang words that stick with them and become part of their common speech. Thus the fingerprint reference. Take for example a text from your spouse. You would notice if a text message from them did not ‘sound’ like them. Everyone has a unique way of speaking whether it is vocal or written. You can use this type of investigative tool to help determine if someone actually wrote a statement or if they believe what they are saying. (If they are telling the truth.)

Specifics to look for in statements

A couple of points you should always look for in statement analysis are the following:

• Time of incident
• Location
• The timeline
• Detail
• Grammar
• Overall feel

The time of the incident is important of course because you should see if the person remembers the time or if they try to distract you with other information from that key point. The location is imperative since you need to determine whether the person you are interviewing was really there or not. The timeline is one of the best pieces of evidence you will have. See if there are any holes in their timeline statement. Details should be scrutinized. Pay attention to the grammar they use. Did they use past or present tense? Do they mix tenses? This may be a clue as to if they really know what happened or not. The overall feel of the statement will be a good indicator too. If you feel that they are not being truthful, chances are they are not being truthful.

Statement analysis can be used universally

It can be said that statement analysis can be used “universally,” meaning it can be used for suspects, victims, witnesses, in a homicide investigation, a crash inquiry, or any other type of call or case. Once you have a good, solid grasp on statement analysis and how to utilize these skills in any capacity, you will be one step ahead of your investigation.