The Public Duty Doctrine.56: Rapport

One source defines rapport as "close relationship; harmony."

Given the Public Duty Doctrine, law enforcement must rely on the victim-witness-suspect cooperation.

Absent a law enforcement promise to provide Witness Protection, absent a Material Witness Order, cooperation is the only tool left.

The way you get to cooperation, according to law enforcement texts, is: Establish rapport (a close relationship, harmony) with the victim-witness-suspect.

When law enforcement establishes a rapport, say with a victim, it merely reinforces the protect-and-serve propaganda that has been disseminated for so many years.

One of the ways law enforcement gets to rapport is by Mirroring the victim-witness-suspect.

Quoting from "Practical Aspects of Interview and Interrogation," by David E. Zulawski and Douglas E. Wicklander, CRC Press, Inc., 1993, page 143, Mirroring is defined as follows:

"The interviewer who uses only words to build rapport has failed to use all the avenues of communication available. The words spoken between two people account for less than 10% of the communication between individuals. The vast majority of communication takes place using the tone of voice and emphasis on words. In addition, almost half of the communication between individuals is based on physical behavior, posture, and gestures of the participants. Understanding other levels of communication enables the interviewer to incorporate the tone of voice, word emphasis, and physical behavior in his attempt to generate rapport.

"By recognizing the fact that people like people who look, talk, and act similar to themselves, the interviewer can consciously begin to model the speech patterns, speed of delivery, breathing, posture, and the gestures of the individual he is speaking to. This is called mirroring."

Again, when law enforcement establishes a rapport by mirroring, say with a victim-witness, it merely reinforces, in the victim-witness' mind, the protect-and-serve propaganda that is currently in use.

Failing to disclose The Public Duty Doctrine in a timely manner to victim-witnesses is equivalent to a Confidence Game.

I can hear it now. "But, Dave, this is the best system we've got. Nobody's perfect. What you're proposing is so out of touch with the Real World." When I've told people about this, their comeback ( 9 out of 10 times) is: "That would make this place the Wild-Wild West."

When I was little, I believed in Superman, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus. As I grew into adulthood, I thought most, if not all, of the fairytales were gone. For the past 20 years, I have been battling the fairytale of Protect-and-Serve.

If you're comfortable in believing in it, Swim at your own risk.