The Reid Technique Explained

interrogation room
Zain Murdock
March 24, 2023

In 2019, law enforcement training company John E. Reid and Associates had the audacity to file a defamation suit against Ava Duvernay for her miniseries on the Exonerated 5, When They See Us

But which of their training techniques portrayed in the Netflix series had the company so bothered?

It's called the "Reid Technique." It's designed to induce anxiety and desperation, and break you down until you confess.

Those questioned are interrogated for hours without bathroom or food breaks. 

The Reid website even says it's acceptable to leave the room and come back with fake evidence to push people to confess.

The Reid technique guarantees law enforcement that "80% of those interrogated will confess." So, although this is just one of many techniques and schemes, it's no surprise that Black people are more likely to be convicted of crimes we didn't commit - Black youth are especially vulnerable to false confessions.

In 2020, a judge dismissed the complaint against Duvernay. But remember this. 

The police system and its affiliates will deny or spin their abuse to keep a clean image. But like the Exonerated 5 and the creators behind the series, we must keep exposing the truth, no matter what they say.

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