Texas law enforcement uses hypnosis to investigate crimes

[WillBrink]

TX under scrutiny for using hypnosis:

"More than 1,000 pages of investigative and legal records obtained by The Dallas Morning News detail how the initial police missteps in Barbre’s case led to a stalled investigation and, ultimately, a last-ditch effort to find the truth through hypnosis.

Investigative hypnosis aims to deeply relax a victim or witness in an effort to help that person better remember the circumstances surrounding a crime. Not everyone can be put into a hypnotic trance, which is broadly defined as an altered state of consciousness that makes the subject more open to suggestion. Hypnotists say subjects are in full control of themselves, not asleep during the procedure.

The American Psychiatric Association says hypnosis should only be employed by trained health care professionals as a therapeutic tool. It can help patients overcome unwanted habits or cope with anxiety and pain, according to the Mayo Clinic.

But a vast body of research shows hypnosis does not increase the chance of retrieving accurate memories. In fact, it may implant imaginary ideas or distort recollections."

https://interactives.dallasnews.com/2020/memory-room-dallas-texas-police-use-investigative-hypnosis-to-convict-life-death-row/

[Adrenaline_6]

TX under scrutiny for using hypnosis:

"More than 1,000 pages of investigative and legal records obtained by The Dallas Morning News detail how the initial police missteps in Barbre’s case led to a stalled investigation and, ultimately, a last-ditch effort to find the truth through hypnosis.

Investigative hypnosis aims to deeply relax a victim or witness in an effort to help that person better remember the circumstances surrounding a crime. Not everyone can be put into a hypnotic trance, which is broadly defined as an altered state of consciousness that makes the subject more open to suggestion. Hypnotists say subjects are in full control of themselves, not asleep during the procedure.

The American Psychiatric Association says hypnosis should only be employed by trained health care professionals as a therapeutic tool. It can help patients overcome unwanted habits or cope with anxiety and pain, according to the Mayo Clinic.

But a vast body of research shows hypnosis does not increase the chance of retrieving accurate memories. In fact, it may implant imaginary ideas or distort recollections."

https://interactives.dallasnews.com/2020/memory-room-dallas-texas-police-use-investigative-hypnosis-to-convict-life-death-row/

This comes to mind:

http://www.mindpowernews.com/BrainwashedToKill.htm

[Firefly]

I remember when the FBI got Psychics and during the Satanic Panic they got a bunch of “Expert Witnesses” who were revealed to be Alcoholic defrocked Pentecostals who read too many Chick Tracts.

Science aint Magic.

[utahjeepr]

Hypnosis is a thing, it can be valid or it can be crap just like anything else. I have had dental work done under hypnosis instead of being numbed. I have used it for pain management as well. Comic entertainment aside, it has proven effective in certain areas.

I could see how hypnosis could theoretically be used to help a witness remember more detail. However, the "recovered memory" abuses and other concerns have tainted the prospect. I can't imagine any LE agency using it for anything evidentiary or crucial to an investigation. Even if it led to valuable information, it would be difficult to defend in court.

[titsonritz]

The link in the OP wants me to subscribe, no thanks, but apparently the practice has been stopped.

Texas Rangers stops using hypnosis to investigate crimes following expose

The use of hypnosis to investigate crimes has been ended by The Texas Department of Public Safety after an expose by The Dallas Morning News showed that the science was "dubious".

A spokesperson for the department said that the practice of using hypnosis to investigate crimes had ended in January of this year, more than four decades after the start of the programme.

The move to leave hypnosis behind was made less than a year after a Dallas Morning News expose entitled "The Memory Room" raised questions about the effectiveness of the practice.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-rangers-hypnosis-crimes-investigation-b1816635.html

[caporider]

Hypnosis is a thing, it can be valid or it can be crap just like anything else. I have had dental work done under hypnosis instead of being numbed. I have used it for pain management as well. Comic entertainment aside, it has proven effective in certain areas.

I could see how hypnosis could theoretically be used to help a witness remember more detail. However, the "recovered memory" abuses and other concerns have tainted the prospect. I can't imagine any LE agency using it for anything evidentiary or crucial to an investigation. Even if it led to valuable information, it would be difficult to defend in court.

Exactly right.

Hypnosis is great at planting suggestions, not so great at recovering memories.

[jsbhike]

The link in the OP wants me to subscribe, no thanks, but apparently the practice has been stopped.

Texas Rangers stops using hypnosis to investigate crimes following expose

The use of hypnosis to investigate crimes has been ended by The Texas Department of Public Safety after an expose by The Dallas Morning News showed that the science was "dubious".

A spokesperson for the department said that the practice of using hypnosis to investigate crimes had ended in January of this year, more than four decades after the start of the programme.

The move to leave hypnosis behind was made less than a year after a Dallas Morning News expose entitled "The Memory Room" raised questions about the effectiveness of the practice.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-rangers-hypnosis-crimes-investigation-b1816635.html

From that article:

"Assistant Chief of Media and Communications Travis Considine told The Dallas Morning News that they have "developed more advanced interview and interrogation techniques that yield better results"."

So will the medium from the new DPS Division of Occult Technology have to conduct the séance during court proceedings or can they just testify as to what they saw?

[Uni-Vibe]

Didn't we already try this? Remember satanic sex abuse repression syndrome? People went to prison because somebody became convinced they had "repressed memories" of being victimized by an alleged pedophile.

The TX Rangers have a reputation as the premier law enforcement organization in the state.

[utahjeepr]

FWIW, Rangers are a part of TXDPS, but DPS is everything from driver licensing/mv registration to highway patrol/state trooper. I didn't read the attached, did it specifically say Rangers? Either way, they should have known this would look bad.

Now, one real thing is that the mind pulls in details that we often cannot/do not conciously process in the moment. If they weren't important to us "in the moment" those details are difficult to recover, more so as time passes. This is one reason for questioning witnesses as quickly and thoroughly as possible. I don't know if it is legit use of hypnosis or if it is hypno-quackery to try to recover those details.