Examining the Complexity of Police Officers’ Language During Investigative Interviews with Adults and Youth

Abstract

The complexity of interviewer and interviewee language in police interviews (N = 36) with adult suspects, adult witnesses, youth suspects, and youth witnesses were analyzed. Every interlocutor utterance was subjected to Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level (FK) and SMOG readability analyses. Median FK and SMOG scores revealed statistically significant differences in language complexity between interviewers and interviewees in the case of youth suspects, with police officers demonstrating more complex language than youth suspects. However, no significant differences in language complexity were found between interviewers and interviewees in the case of youth witnesses. Median FK and SMOG scores revealed that interviewer language with youth suspects was more complex, or equally as complex, as language used with adult suspects, respectively. The implications of these findings for youth comprehension and police practice are discussed.