SAN DIEGO FIELD INTERROGATION FINAL REPORT John E Boydsrun SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Policeféundation‘the Police Foundation is a privately funded, independent, non-profit organization established by the Ford Foundation in 1970 and dedieated to supporting innovation and improvement in policing. The Foundation’s esearch findings are published as an information service. Conclusions and recommendations are those of the fauthors and not necessarily those of the Foundation. Copyright © August 1975 Police Foundation Library of Congress Catalog Number 75-24743PREFACE ‘The San Diego Police Department Field Interrogation Experiment breaks further ground in the effort to replace hunch and surmise about police practices with empirically derived knowledge. In leading his department to concrete, measured tesis of what works in policing, Chief Raymond L. Hoobler has demonstrated the major contributions that can be made by those police departments whose chiefs have the openness of mind to approach critically what they are doing; the resolve to face the hard tasks of scientific experimentation; and the determination to apply the results of experimentation ‘The Police Foundation hopes that publication of this report will encourage others to replicate the field interrogation experiment in different kinds of cities. The lessons recorded here from the pioneering San Diego design can help others to plan and implement experiments, perhaps of larger scale, involving larger numbers of beats and police officers, than was feasible in this first field interrogation experiment. ‘The first step points the way. Patrick V. Murphy President Police Foundation