An Interview That Mark Safarkis, A Serial Killer Essay

Introduction Joel Rifkin, a notorious serial killer had killed seventeen prostitutes from 1989 to 1993. On June 28, 1993 homicide detectives interviewed Rifkin and a year later he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life. During the investigation homicide detectives had interviewed him. Interviewing is a fundamental skill that all members in justice related professions must be equipped with. Knowing how to effectively interview a victim or offender in a criminal investigation can go a long way. It can help establish important details that have occurred through out the case and help law enforcement establish a modus operandi for the offenders. In any criminal investigation the best evidence in court is a confession from the offender. This paper will analyze an interview that Mark Safarkis, a profiler for the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted on Joel Rifkin. We will analyze and critique some of the approaches the agent used. This paper will examine techniques used throughout the int erview such as: verbal following, close-ended questions, open-ended questions, paraphrasing, summarizing and remaining soler. Verbal Tracking Verbal tracking or verbal following is when the interviewer is following what the interviewee is saying (Ivey Allen, 2016, p. 102). The interviewer must not be off topic and the questions asked should be relevant to what the interviewee is talking about (Ivey Allen, 2016, p. 102). During Rifkin’s interview Safarkis does an excellent