Good cop/bad cop

Encyclopedia : G : GO : GOO : Good cop/bad cop

This does not cite its .
You can Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations.

Good Cop/Bad Cop is a psychological tactic, often used by police for interrogation.

Two 'cops' alternate their interviews. The 'Bad Cop' behaves negatively toward the subject, making blatant accusations, derogatory comments, threats, and in general raising the subject's antipathy. This sets the stage for the 'Good Cop' to deceptively act supportive, understanding, defensive, and in general show sympathy for the subject, which may make the subject cooperative towards the latter.

The technique is easily recognised by those familiar with it, but it remains useful against subjects who are young, frightened, or naïve. Experienced interrogators assess the subject's level of intelligence and experience with the technique prior to its application, as the technique is often seen as offensive and insulting to those who recognise it, who may thus refuse to cooperate outright.

An example of the Good Cop, Bad Cop format is this, from Andrew Strano's short comic play 'Good Cop, Bad Cop':

WALTERS: (angry) Right you bastard, either you talk, or we’ll put your head through the wall!

BRANWELL: (calm) He’s not kidding… Look, I’m pretty sure I can hold him back for a while, but it can only go on for so long. There would be advantages to talking to us Gustav.

In this example "WALTERS" is clearly the 'Bad Cop', and "BRANWELL" the 'Good Cop'.

In the movie "The Pink Panther" Inspector Closeau attemps to use the Good Cop, Bad Cop technique. However, he foolishly attempts to play both parts, as an example of his incompetence.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.