The PEACE method has been gaining traction in investigation communities as an alternative interview technique focused more on gathering information than coaxing a confession out of a subject.

For more easy-to-digest information about the PEACE method, check out this webinar: Ethical Investigation Interviews: The PEACE Model.

We’ve collected six essential articles that will help you understand where the PEACE method comes from, why it’s useful, and new ways you can execute your investigative interviews.

1. PEACE Method Overview

It’s important to understand previous methods of interviewing before learning about the PEACE method.

The Neurologica blog takes a look at the Reid technique of interviewing through a neuroscience lens, and offers a quick but insightful introduction of the alternative PEACE method of interviewing.

The Reid Technique

2. The PEACE Method: 5 Steps

i-Sight (now Case IQ)'s cheat sheet, The PEACE Model of Investigation Interviews, provides an overview of the five steps of an investigation interview using the PEACE Method:

• Preparation and planning
• Engage and explain
• Account
• Closure
• Evaluation

Download and share with colleagues who might be interested.

The PEACE Model of Investigation Interviews

3. A History of Hostile Tactics

This New Yorker article is an engrossing profile of problematic police interrogation techniques.

It also outlines the creation of the PEACE method of interviewing, and acts as a great overview of the shift away from hostile interview techniques.

The Interview

4. Interview Misconceptions

Another story about the adoption of the PEACE interview method, this one told from the perspective of Canadian police officers.

This National Post article does a good job of dispelling common interview misconceptions—lessons that can be applied to any style of interview.

You're Guilty, Now Confess

5. Visual Interview Techniques

WISE Workplace explains how the PEACE method can help memory recall.

It serves as a great granular look at the benefits of the PEACE method and introduces the idea of interview sketches, which can help interviewees recall scenarios without unintentional fabrication.

Picture It! Enhancing Memory Recall In Interviews

6: PEACE Method Preview

A more conversational interviewing style, based on science, which builds trust and rapport, is the way forward, say some psychologists.

This philosophy is encapsulated in the PEACE Model of investigative interviewing.

Watch the snippet below for more details: