Inspired Interviewing: Leveraging Mindfulness Practice to Improve Secret Service Interview Skills in Protective Intelligence Investigations
Abstract
The Secret Service conducts Protective Intelligence (PI) investigations as part of its integrated mission of investigating financial crimes and protecting certain elected federal government officials. An integral part of the PI investigation is the PI interview. Although Special Agents and Uniformed Division Officers receive PI interview training, they still struggle with four key components of the interview: rapport and relationship building, elicitation, deception detection, and decision-making. As a result, they may not conduct thorough PI interviews, thus negatively impacting the PI investigation. Faulty PI investigations may result in unwanted outcomes for Secret Service protective interests. These outcomes may include death or injury to protectees, Secret Service employees, or the public. A potential solution is the mPEAK mindfulness program that the Secret Service already uses to improve employee wellness. This thesis reviews literature on mindfulness training and its utility in performance enhancement to determine to what extent the Secret Service should leverage mPEAK to improve PI interviewing and to offer recommendations for the inclusion of mPEAK in the current PI training curriculum. It finds that elements of mindfulness presence, nonjudgment, enhanced listening skills, and increased attention can improve investigators PI interview skills. Finally, this thesis gives recommendations for a working group to adapt mPEAK for improved PI interviewing
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1212933
Entities
People
- Kimberly A. Lokhard
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School