Essay about Personal Attributes for an investigator

Introduction

There is one critical question that crops up regularly indifferent forums convened by senior investigators. “What are the crucial qualities of a fine investigator?” This question relates to investigators in any given investigative dispensation (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising). As much as there have been a lot of literature on the best qualities for a fine investigator, it turns out that one cannot predetermine whether or not a certain individual is or is not a fine investigator based on these preferences (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising). However, there is an even longer listing of preferred qualities that an investigator has to acquire and progressively develop so as to be a successful and professionally competent investigator.

Exceptional interpersonal skills and the knack to create concrete connections with other individuals are some of the most robust essentials for a good investigator (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising). The aptitude of an investigator to enable a person feel comfortable and close brings out a level of trust necessary for the flow of information from such a person which can aid in the investigations being carried out. In this essay, four significant qualities for investigative interpersonal relations are defined and expounded on.

Good listening skills

The first and foremost quality is for an investigator to be an excellent listener. This attribute is considered to be more valuable to an investigator than the ability to use persuasion to get vital information (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising). Most people would rather be the ones talking and warm up to the fact that they are being attentively listened to. When an investigator satisfies this significant need, the investigator is in a position to receive crucial information on the issue at hand. Therefore, it is inappropriate to interrupt the subject being questioned or result to harshness but instead gently keep the person in the topic via open ended queries in an open dialogue with the aim of committing the person to a monologue. An investigator should also be attentive to the person’s body language for authenticity to finer details (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising).

Patience

Patience is the second quality important for a good investigator. It is worthy to note that during questioning, the investigator and the subject have very little knowledge of what each party knows about the investigation (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising). The investigator can only deduce what is important to the investigations after the questioning is over. Thus, the investigator can only make the person comfortable to freely offer information by practicing patience.

Ability to negotiate

The capability to negotiate is another important quality since there are incidences in which the individual being interrogated may have the vital information needed but tends to withhold such information. The price for which an investigator can offer the person being interrogated can be in the form of emotional fulfillment by ensuring that the subject understands that contributions made are of little help (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising). The investigator should also holdback information given to the subject to a bare minimum.

Persuasive

The ability to be persuasive and openly interact with the subject for maximum cooperation by the subject to the issue being investigated is the fourth quality that makes a successful investigator (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising). With this quality, the investigator is easily able to get the subject to reveal information most relevant to the eventual outcome of an investigation. The ability to be persuasive goes hand in hand with an investigator’s self confidence. This is very helpful in disproving counterproductive arguments in the initial phases of questioning. This has the effect of getting better cooperation from a subject (Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising).

References

Yanir Levin Intelligence Advising. Investigator – Investigated. 2009. 06.08.2011.

http://www.mypi.co.il/articles/investigator-investigated/