Most officers leave the academy knowing how to make an arrest. Very few leave knowing how to get someone to talk. This 40-hour online course changes that. Built by working investigators for working investigators, RTI's Interview and Interrogation course teaches a science-backed, legally defensible approach to getting information from suspects, victims, and witnesses. No guessing, no pressure tactics that courts throw out, and none of the training that was already outdated when your FTO went through it.

The course covers the full arc of an investigative interview: pre-interview planning and subject background research, interview environment and logistics, conversation management, advanced rapport development, constitutional and legal requirements, victim-specific interviewing including trauma response and tonic immobility, deception detection, strategic use of evidence, false confession awareness, and the PIRANHA methodology. PIRANHA is RTI's structured framework for planning and executing interviews from introduction through final analysis.

This is not a course about tricks. It is a course about understanding why people talk, how to create conditions where they want to keep talking, and what to do when they stop. The curriculum draws from current published research including work by the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG), cognitive interviewing science, and the Scharff Technique, and it applies that research to the cases you are actually working.

What the Course Covers

• Interview vs. interrogation: goals, distinctions, and when each applies
• Subject background research and pre-interview logistics
• Active and empathetic listening as investigative tools
• Conversation management techniques
• Advanced rapport building across multiple modules
• Constitutional framework: 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments
• Miranda requirements, invocation, exceptions, and juvenile considerations
• Trauma-informed victim interviewing, including tonic immobility
• Witness interview strategies
• Deception cues, indicators, and verbal deception patterns
• Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE)
• False confession causes and contamination avoidance
• Open-ended questioning and cognitive interviewing principles
• The PIRANHA methodology: from planning through analysis
• The Scharff Technique for eliciting information without direct pressure
• Real criminal interview video analysis and practical application

POST-certified in Idaho. 40 credit hours. Online, self-paced.

Who This Course Is For

This course is designed for patrol officers moving into investigative roles, detectives who want to sharpen skills they learned on the job, and any officer who regularly interviews victims, witnesses, or suspects. It is equally applicable to general patrol work and specialized investigative assignments. No prior formal interview training is required.

Why RTI's Approach Is Different

The interview and interrogation training landscape is crowded with courses that recycle the same methods law enforcement has used for decades. Methods that are increasingly challenged in court and increasingly shown by research to produce unreliable results. RTI's course was built on a different foundation: what does the science actually say about how people decide to disclose information, and how do we apply that in a real interview room?

The PIRANHA methodology gives investigators a structured, repeatable framework they can execute on any interview, regardless of case type. The Scharff Technique, originally developed in intelligence operations, teaches how to elicit information through controlled conversation rather than confrontation. Strategic Use of Evidence provides a principled approach to introducing what you know without contaminating what you need to learn. These are not brand names for the same old playbook. They are distinct, research-supported tools with documented results.

The victim interview curriculum goes further than most courses are willing to go. Tonic immobility, the physiological freeze response documented in assault and trauma victims, is covered in dedicated modules. Officers who understand why a victim appears calm, disengaged, or inconsistent are far less likely to misread a genuine victim and far more likely to conduct an interview that holds up when defense counsel starts asking questions.

Course Format

The course is fully online and self-paced through RTI's LearnDash-based LMS. Modules include reading assignments, lecture content, quizzes, and a substantial video analysis section in which students review and discuss actual criminal interview footage. A final exam is required for completion. The course includes an academic fraud acknowledgment. RTI does not issue certifications for courses people did not actually complete.

Credit Hours and Certification

40 credit hours. POST-certified in Idaho. Officers in other states should verify acceptance with their POST or training coordinator prior to enrollment. RTI can provide documentation to support approval requests.

Most law enforcement training exists because someone needed to fill a POST requirement. You've sat through that training. You know exactly what it looks like.

RTI courses are built by working investigators who got tired of watching officers fail in the field because their training never matched reality. Every module is grounded in current forensic science, tested against real case outcomes, and built to hold up in court, not just in a classroom.

No rubber-stamp certificates. No recycled slide decks from a decade ago. No instructors whose only qualification is that they once attended the course they're now teaching.

If you do the work, you'll leave with skills you can use on your next shift.
That's the standard RTI trains to.

Is this course appropriate for a newer officer or only for detectives?

Both. The course builds from fundamentals before moving into advanced methodology. Newer officers get a complete framework. Experienced investigators fill gaps they did not know they had.

Does this course cover Miranda and constitutional law?

Yes. There is a dedicated constitutional and legal review section covering the 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments, Miranda requirements, invocation of rights, exceptions, and juvenile-specific considerations. This is not a law school course, but you will leave understanding exactly where the legal lines are and why they matter for your cases.

What is the PIRANHA methodology?

PIRANHA is RTI's proprietary structured interview framework. It provides a step-by-step approach that takes an investigator from pre-interview planning through final analysis. The full methodology is taught inside the course.

What is the Scharff Technique?

The Scharff Technique is an evidence-based elicitation method developed from research into successful intelligence interrogators. It leverages a conversational approach and controlled information management to encourage disclosure without confrontation. It is particularly effective with resistant or cautious subjects.

Does this course address victim interviews differently than suspect interviews?

Yes. There is an entire section dedicated to victim interviewing, including the neuroscience of trauma, tonic immobility (the freeze response common in assault victims), memory gaps, and victim-specific interview strategies. Most interview courses treat victim interviews as a footnote. This one does not.

How long does it take to complete?

The course is rated at 40 credit hours. Actual completion time varies by student pace, but plan for a serious time investment. This is a full certification course, not a webinar.

Will this credit transfer to my state's POST requirements?

The course is POST-certified in Idaho. Officers in other states should check with their POST or agency training coordinator. RTI provides documentation to support out-of-state approval requests.