COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Interviewing is a key part of crime investigations and soon, more than 100 members of the Columbus Division of Police (CPD) will go through training aimed at making them better interviewers.

Often, detectives and other investigators talk with individuals on some of the most difficult days of their lives. Smith Weird, deputy chief with CPD, said that in the past, police generally have been prepared for suspect interviews.

“We’ve been trained on the suspect interview but I think we just expect the victims to come up and just give us the whole story and we don’t have an understanding of the trauma they’ve just been through and the process they have to go through for us to get to the truth of the situation,” he said.

The division is now looking at interviews through another lens. Fifty officers who help investigate strangulations and 99 detectives will go through FETI training, according to Weir. FETI stands for Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview.

“This is a training we had kind of been looking at for a while to provide an opportunity for our detectives to kind of get a better understanding of trauma and as it relates to victims, witnesses and even suspects,” Weir said.

Lori Heitman, one of the founders of the methodology, has almost 30 years of law enforcement experience.

“We talk a lot about adding tools to a toolbox, but the reality is as an interviewer, you’re actually the implement,” she said. “Your knowledge, skill sets and abilities that you take into that interview process with you really can be what makes or breaks, often, the interview.”

The interviewing technique is based on the neurobiology of trauma and memory, according to Heitman. She said training participants gain a better understanding of how the brain works under stress or anxiety. She also said it often leads to investigators getting better information.

“One of the foundational principles here is listening to hear and understand whereas listening to respond, which is really, really difficult for people,” Heitman said. “We think we’re good listeners until we realize we’re not.”

The training is grant-funded for some CPD members, according to Weir. Columbus City Council recently approved about $130,000 to cover the cost for the rest.

“These detectives that are getting the training deal with the most serious crimes in our society and specifically in our city, so if we’re sitting there and looking at what price do you put on that, if we provide a better service for our victims, if we solve more cases, if we bring justice to those that have been victimized, then it’s worth every penny,” Weir said.

The training is scheduled to take place this spring, with part of it being online. Heitman said a lot of interviews will take place during the in-person sessions.

Depending on how successful the training is, Weir said it could get expanded to other department officers.