Direct Accusation was also slightly augmented for external interviewing. The interviewer used soft accusations with a trailing choice question in order to expose global involvement. The merging of the choice question into most accusations and rationalizations tended to elicit the most behavior from the subjects. “How much merchandise has your group taken? Have you taken a million dollars, or enough to sustain your life?” As a general rule, the direct accusation was not used due to the global nature of ORC.
Traditional ORC questions were only used once submission was reached:
- Where is the merchandise taken?
- How much merchandise is taken?
- Where is it sold?
It is important for interviewers to remember that their goal is to gain admissions from the subject which are tangible and credible enough for Law Enforcement to initiate a police investigation. Due to the volume of police investigations, the credibility of your admission is paramount. The majority of prior external admissions are resolved through civil demand vs. prosecution.
External interviews should be conducted immediately upon apprehension prior to the police arriving. With police present, it could be interpreted that loss prevention is acting as an agent of the police during the interview and as a result would require Miranda. Conducting the interview without the police present allows the interviewer to operate as they would during the interview of an employee. Also, most “Shopkeeper laws” require that the merchant only detain the subject for a “reasonable” amount of time. This prevents Loss Prevention from conducting a lengthy interview with the traditional approach and then contacting police as the time used could be interpreted as “unreasonable” in civil court. This is why the external technique’s delivery is trimmed. It is built on speed.
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