Modern Police Investigation

February 2020 Chapter Meeting: Modern Police Investigation

By Erica Ruth Neubauer

A panel of Milwaukee Police Department officers joined MWA Midwest members at the February chapter meeting in Milwaukee. Captain William Beauchene from the Property Crimes Division and four homicide detectives—Detectives Tim Keller, Nathan Butz, Jeremiah Jacks, and Jim Hutchinson—shared their expertise in modern police investigations.

The Human Role

Despite what you see on TV, modern policing is all about human intelligence, one panelist said. “It’s not the DNA, not the high-tech stuff. It’s getting witnesses to talk to you.” And it can be as difficult to get a witness to talk as it is to get a suspect to confess, so officers must work hard to build relationships and develop trust.

Officers spend a lot of time at prisons talking to convicts who might have information about a crime. "You’d be surprised how many cases get solved that way," one panelist said. "People who hold something until it benefits them. A witness might say, ‘I know who killed so and so two years ago, and I’ll tell you, but I want to walk out of here today.’ Police can use that testimony to close their cases."

Earning a confession

Getting a confession is the ultimate evidence in a case, and officers have a few different approaches. One panelist appeals to the suspect’s conscience. “We say, ‘Listen. You didn’t mean for this to happen, clearly. Things just went sideways. You don’t seem like a bad guy.’ We are trying to appeal to their conscience—maybe minimizing things a little bit and making it sound not so bad." 

Another approach is to be a good listener. “When I was brand new, I came in thinking that you’re in charge," one panelist said. “But what I learned from one of my field training officers was you need to be the bartender." The more an officer listens, the more suspects admit to. It takes patience, but the panelists agreed learning to close your mouth makes a difference.

Giving, or faking, respect is another angle. "It's the biggest word on the street," one panelist said. "Hardened gang members, hardened criminals, whoever—they talk about respect."

So when the police show respect—whether they mean it or not—suspects often give that back. “You’d be surprised how many guys confess and then thank you for being decent to them,” one panelist said. “They haven’t had anyone talk to them decently in a long time."

And when an authority figure comes in and says, "Hey, can I get you something to drink? You good?" the panelists said it goes a long way. Suspects feel cared for and understood, and more likely to talk.

Confessions don’t happen overnight. The panelists said they plan on three to four interviews for a murder suspect. In the first interview, they expect the subject to lie, but they pretend to believe it. In the second interview, the suspect typically tries to find out what the police really know, and the officers start planting seeds that they have proof the suspect is lying. If they’re going to get a confession, it’ll typically happen in the third or fourth interview. 

Sitting (and Babysitting) In Court

Police work doesn't end with the arrest. “They don’t tell you how many hours you’ll spend sitting in court,” one panelist said. “There’s the normal eight hours on shift, but often there’s another eight hours you spend in court, day after day. And some of these cases are weeks long.”

Making sure witnesses appear and tell the truth is also critical. “I didn’t understand until I got into the homicide unit how much babysitting we do of witnesses,” one panelist said. “So many of our cases are solved by witnesses telling us what they saw, but these witnesses get very scared, they get intimidated and go off the map, and we can’t find them to appear in court. Or they might get up on the stand and lie.”

So police build relationships with their witnesses so that, when it’s time to testify, the witnesses show up and tell the truth.

Fun Fact: Buses to the Rescue

In Milwaukee, county buses are covered with cameras, and the footage from them has solved several cases, including a shooting.  

"It’s beautiful," one panelist said. "Take a look next time you see one—they’re recording everything.”

Erica Ruth Neubauer spent 11 years in the military, nearly two as a Maryland police officer, and one as a high school English teacher, before finding her way as a writer. She has been a reviewer of mysteries and crime fiction for publications such as Publishers Weekly and Mystery Scene Magazine for several years, and she lives in Milwaukee, WI.