POLICENEW By 081?. Edwin Public Information O??we For years, police departments nationwide have used all sorts of tools and techniques to stay ahead of criminals. Most of the time of?cers rely on conventional procedures such as fingerprints and photo lineups, while other times we take the information super highway to crack cases. Still other times we use somewhat dr??erenr approaches. One of the most effective and little known law enforcement tools is investigative hypnosis. Investigative hypnosis? Maybe I worked deep nights too long, but when I heard the term all I could think about. was Elmer Fudd trying to hypnotize Bugs Bunny, with lightning bolts shooting out of his eyes. Imagine the possibilities. Hypnotize a suspect and make him cluck like a chicken every time he is read his Miranda Wanting. I was a bit disappointed when I found that the investigators don't do that sort of thing. Investigative hypnosis has been around since 1976. On July 15, 1976 three persons kidnapped 26 school children and a bus driver in Chowchilla, California. All occupants were buried alive underground. After they managed to dig their way out. of the makeshift grave. they contacted the police. It was then decided that hypnosis would be used, on the driver, for memory enhancement in order to develop investigative leads. The investigators were able to retrieve all of the digits except one. on the license plate of the suspect. vehicle. As a result of the infonnation. developed and investigation of leads, three suspects were arrested and convicted of kidnapping the students and the driver. In Texas, the DPS implemented a hypnosis program in 1980, after much research and consultation with experts on the subject. The class is 40 hours and A students must take a TCLEOSE test at the end of the course. In addition, students have the option to take the state certification test. Only students who are state licensed are allowed to Look into my eyes: Investigative Hypnosis conduct investigative hypnosis sessions. However, all students are able to hypnotize subjects; throughout the training, students conduct ?ve to six hypnosis sessions on ea other. Detective Randy Loboda, from Youth and Family Crimes, is one of the detectives trained and licensed to perform investigative hypnosis. He said that hypnosis is used with com- plainants and witnesses who have trouble remembering details about an incident, such as the June 17 boating accident on Lewisville Lake that seriously injured and disfigured a young woman. Several witnesses underwent hypnosis and have provided more details on the description of the boat that slashed the young woman's face and then sped away. Senior Corporal Gary Croxdale, has been a forensic hypnotist for eight years. Last year he was one of the regional directors for the Texas Investigative Hypnosis Association. Cpl. Croxdale knows that hypnosis is a valuable tool. Locally, investigators worked a case in which a man was shot in front of his brother. The brother saw the license plate however he could not remember it. Cpl. Croxdale conducted a hypnosis session and investigators got a license plate number for the suspect vehicle. The Supreme Court has ruled that evidence gathered through the use of hypnosis is admissible in court. However, to insure that every thing is done correctly, the session must be recorded. My sergeant suggested that it PAGE- would be interesting if I could write about how it felt to be hypnotized. Hmimn, not a bad idea. Then I thought about it for a minute. I heard one of my co-workers say "I'll bring the popcorn Nah, I '11 just have him tell me how it?s done. Investigators use what is called the permissive approach in which they basically talk the subject into hypnosis. There are no watches or spinning wheels, they simply instruct the person to focus on a point above their own head, then close their eyes and eventu- ally they just talk them into a hypnotic trance. Once the person is "under", they can actually see themselves (as if watching a movie) reliving the experi- ence that the detective is trying to investigate. The subjects can give extremely accurate descriptions and can even open up their eyes and verify composite sketches of suspects. This can sometimes be traumatic, however the detectives are trained in how to talk people through any adverse reactions. Like anything else, there are certain limitations to the use of this technique. First of all, the investigator must be licensed by the state. A violation could result in a $10,000 ?ne. Furthermore the detective can not hypnotize anyone involved in one of his own cases, to make sure that he does not influence his witnesses (or com- plainants) in any way. Most impor- tantly, the witnesses and complainants must consent to being hypnotized; suspects are off limits. Unfortunately our training section does not offer training in investigative hypnosis. The of?cers who have received the training got it from outside agencies. The cost was paid by the department. Let your supervisors know that you are interested and keep your ear to the ground. If they need a little convinc- ing contact Detectives Billy Watkins, Philip Brown or William Bricker from Capers or Narcotics detective Marilyn Benedict; maybe even Sgt. Lewis (also from Capers) and perhaps they can suggest to your supervisor that you need to take the course.