Daniel Gwynn Blog Update
Date: 1/21/14
Subject: Philly Police Change Course

The Philadelphia Daily News reported in December that the Philly Police Department has finally decided to revise their interview policy for the Homicide Unit after pressure from the ACLU and The Innocence Project. The new policies are long overdue as hundreds of other police departments across the country rely on recording interrogations and at least seventeen states require the practice by law. Two cases in October 2013 helped spirit the change, where Nafis Pinkney was found not guilty after claiming two detectives slapped him around until he confessed; then Unique Drayton described being made to sleep on the floor, not being fed, being screamed at, and locked in handcuffs by the same two detectives until the confessed.

Come January 1st, new interview policies for the Philadelphia Police Department include:
--Witnesses, crime victims, and potential subjects who are brought in by police for non-custodial, non-accusatory questioning are to be told that they can stop and leave at any time.
--Detectives need approval from a supervisor to question a subject for more than 12 hours. If criminal charges aren't filed, no suspect can be held for more than 36 hrs.
--Detailed logs must show when interview begins and ends, and note that detectives advised individuals being questioned that they were free to leave when they wanted.
--Supervisors are required to check on the well-being of people being interviewed by police at least once during their shift.
--Investigators are prohibited from using physical force of any kind or making threats of any kind, including deportation, against a potential suspect or against the person's relatives.
--A suspect can invoke his Miranda rights and immediately end any interrogation by presenting a letter from an attorney stating that he can't be questioned without an attorney present.
--Authorized interpreters must conduct interviews of victims or witnesses who don't speak of fully understand English.

These changes may be too late for me, but hopefully, it won't be for the next victims of the Philadelphia Police Department's coercive "interview" tactics designed to get a confession.

Daniel Gwynn