Former FBI agent to lecture Oct. 18 on interview and interrogation
Contact: Christina Chapple
10/6/06
HAMMOND – Special Agent Ricardo E. Fernandez, a retired FBI agent, will present a lecture on interview and interrogation techniques Oct. 18 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. in the Southeastern Louisiana University Student Union Theatre.
The free lecture, hosted by the Southeastern Sociological Association, is open to the public and should be of particular interest to law enforcement professionals, said Shannon Forbes Rushing, president of the student organization.
Rushing said Fernandez, who worked in counterintelligence with the FBI and since retirement has served as a police consultant and trainer, was invited to campus by Michael Wigginton, an adjunct professor in Southeastern’s Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. “The SSA is providing this training opportunity free of charge as a service to the community,” Rushing said.
The seminar will offer interview and interrogation training utilizing the “body language” technique, according to Fernandez. It will incorporate “physical gestures, verbal cues and their implications in attempting to surface deceit in an interview or interrogation situation,” he said.
“Some experts have estimated that as much as 93 percent of communication is ‘non-verbal,’” said Fernandez. “Certain eye, hand and body gestures might ‘leak’ an individual’s true knowledge, thoughts or emotions. Specific physical signs might betray their spoken words. An eye blink, an inappropriate smile, the folding of one’s arms or the rapid bouncing of both legs while sitting, all might be significant in determining the truth if observed at an inappropriate moment.”
Fernandez has taught interview and interrogation classes for 13 years. He has taught at numerous police academy and post-academy classes and conferences and has been a continuing guest speaker at the Louisiana State Police Academy and the annual Justices of the Peace and Constables conference. He has lectured to federal agencies such as the State Department, Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Safety Administration and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He has also taught interviewing to security personnel at corporations such as BellSouth, Avondale Industries, Ochsner Clinic Foundation and numerous banking and financial institutions.
A former New Orleans Police Department officer, Fernandez also spent several years as an Office of Naval Intelligence special agent before joining the FBI in 1985, where he was based in Tampa, New York City and New Orleans. He retired in 2004.
The Southeastern Sociological Association sponsors group functions and learning sessions “to education the student body and our community about social issues.”
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