To give an overview of body language. This lesson promises to be engaging and interesting and as such, solid foundation must be laid so as to be able to cater for all the segments that would be treated in the series. This lesson will run in the form of three series—basic, intermediate and advanced levels. In this basic level, we will consider some basic assumptions about body language and how law enforcement officers can use them in the interpretation of criminal body language cues. Criminals are complex set of people who can maneuver their ways by distorting facts and making the fictional look real. So, in this introductory chapter, we will consider the numerous definitions of body language. This will make our discourse encompassing and practical. It should not be forgotten that body language is best understood when it is subjected to contextual analysis. This is due to variation in cultures. Although we will not be able to dig deep into all the world cultures, the major ones and how they are used in body language interpretations would be considered. All these would be backed up by scientific proofs as it is only then they can become acceptable in intellectual setting.

To gain an insight into body language. This chapter is meant to buttress the opening chapter which gave the introduction into the whole study. Body language is a very broad concept and without conceptualizing it to reflect which aspect to base on, it would be hard to get anything meaningful done. So, the first thing to be done in this chapter is to reel out the objectives of the whole study which will serve as a helpful guide throughout the lesson. More importantly, you can refer back to it at the end of the lesson to see how far you have comprehended the message of the lesson. Another aspect we will explore is to understand the roles of body language—what impact does body language have on our being? Our major preoccupation of the chapter will, however, be based on the research finding of Professor Albert Mehrabian. I will discuss the findings of the psychologist in details and how it relates to our discourse topic. The study will be concluded by relating it to how it can be used to profile and detect criminals. This is pure science which has proven to have worked in many circumstances.

To state how law enforcement officers are empowered to detect crime. With my interactions with many law enforcement officers from different parts of the world at a point or the other, I see them lament that they are rendered powerless to fight the increasing level of criminality in their individual community. Although it may be a herculean task to bring criminals on their knees but it has never been an insurmountable mountain. Any law enforcement office who gives out time to learning body language cues, then this will be an invaluable asset in trapping down criminals. There is hardly any criminal that will feel truly remorseful of their actions and confess their wrongdoing to you on a platter of gold. First, I will explain the meaning of crime detection and the context in which it is applied. Then, I will reel out ways in which law enforcement officers can detect crime. You should know that your most reliable weapon in this stance is to rely on some body language subtle cues. So, I will interpret what each sign stands for per time.

To explain the concept of space and distance as they relate to communication. Two basic but critically important issues would be dealt with in this chapter—personal space and distance. The space that exists between two interlocutors subconsciously defines the kind of relationship that exists between them. This is one of the most silent ways of busting criminals as they mostly focus on working on only their body language without paying attention to the distance existing between them and the other person. Personal space defines the privacy every individual conventionally enjoys which cannot be invaded without their consent. Another related concept that would be dissected in this segment is emotions related to space and distance. When criminals are set out to invade your personal space, they wear some emotions, that if you fail to properly read, will put you at their mercies. The aspect we will dwell on most is to understand how criminals make use of the concept. To make the class practical-oriented, I will reel out some relevant case studies as they relate to space and distance. Human smuggling, child smuggling, illegal movement across borders and marriage of convenience are notable cases through which criminals and their accomplices violate the concept.

To understand the use of emotions through facial expressions. An albatross of every human that cannot be detached from them is emotion; we all have our emotions concerning every given issue. They can, however, be truthful or feigned depending on our intentions. Since the aim of criminals is to leave their victims depressed and in a regrettable state, they feign goodness that never exists within them. First, we will open up the chapter by explaining the types of emotions—true and fake emotions. Our understanding of this will lead to the concept of basic emotions. Notable scholars have categorized basic emotions into seven which bother on surprise, anger, disgust, among others. In each of these cases, there is an expected behavior of ours and when we fall below standard, it shows we were only pretentious of the act. The emotions at each of their operations are different because different factors set their emotions on fire and motivate them to carry on with their pre-planned actions. Some of the questions we hope to answer in this chapter are: what are the emotions of criminals before perpetrating their criminal act? What emotions do they wear during the process? And how do they feel after the operations? Apt answers to all these will serve as an invaluable guide for you during interrogation.

To know how we can rely on the eyes for crime detection. Our utmost guide in this chapter is the incorruptible saying, “the eyes are the windows to the soul.” The eyes are embodiment of countless messages but it can only be rightly interpreted by those who understand the science behind it. Scholars also postulate that the eyes serve as the most important sensory organs in humans. Without them, our living will almost be useless. First, the question we must answer is what is the usefulness of the eyes to every human? There is a strong link between the eyes and crime detection. The eyes of criminals were wide open when they were committing the crime and they serve as the CCTV that can playback all the actions if needed. That is why many of them avoid eye contacts during interrogation because they know they can easily be betrayed by their own eyes. Hence, the major preoccupation of this chapter will be to unravel the messages on criminals’ eyes and how they are traceable to a particular crime.

To understand the concept of haptic communication. While the other body language study aspects are overhyped, people tend to downplay this important segment—haptics. Haptic communication is the body language of touch and perhaps, the most emotional aspect of it. The first question this chapter will answer is to explain the meaning of haptic communication. Apart from criminals, we all tend to touch our co-interlocutors at a point or the other for reasons best known to us. While this form of touch may be sometimes well-intended, some other times, it may be laced with evil intents. As law enforcement officers, we must be able to understand all these at each point in time. The second segment of our lesson will deal with how haptic communication is being expressed in the body. The touch can be from either ends—criminals and law enforcement. When law enforcement officers touch criminals, what messages do they pass across? When criminals touch law enforcement officers, what for? All these questions will be expertly answered in this study so as to understand the intent of each subject per time and to make you see reasons you must touch the person you are interviewing.

To understand how to profile criminals in all situations. Criminal profiling is one of the core aspects of law enforcement job throughout the world. Since no criminal submits themselves to the law enforcement before committing any given crime, it requires us to profile people before we can ascertain the actual perpetrator of a crime under investigation. Profiling limits the options of actual perpetrators of a crime and also reduces the odds of illegal arrests. So, first, we will peruse the meaning of criminal profiling and how it can be done through the means of body language. Basically, criminal profiling can take place in two basic instances—during organized crimes and in the public. When a crime is committed discreetly, law enforcement officers are expected to compare records and link likely behavior of people in order to prune down the likely perpetrator of the crime. So what are the factors to consider in profiling a criminal of an organized crime? Furthermore, crimes can be perpetrated among crowds as the criminals think nobody’s eyes are on them. However, the law enforcement can look out for some clear-cut factors that shed the light of suspicion on some people. All these are going to be delectably answered in this chapter.

To understand how to interpret paralanguage communication. Closely related to body language communication is paralanguage and this is best explained how the communication through sounds. How people sound while speaking or even the silence they maintain is full of messages that law enforcement officers can explore to the benefits of the interview process. Sound is technically referred to as tone. The tone of voice of people connotes their emotions per time. Furthermore, tone of people differs by culture, context and profession. Understanding all these will prevent you from misinterpreting people’s intentions. While some cultures ordinarily shout, others keep it low. So, what are the cultural or contextual variations in tone? This will be our first focus in the chapter. Another crucial aspect to explore is the concept of silence. More usual than not, informed suspects keep shut and will not respond to the queries of law enforcement officers no matter the level of provocation. However, scholars have affirmed that even in their silence, officers can still decode useful messages in pursuing the case at hand. Thus, we will beam our searchlight on reasons suspects do decide to keep mute and how we can interpret their silence.

To know the messages in criminals’ gestures and postures. Another crucial aspect of our discourse is to understand the use of gestures and postures. The posture you assume at each point in time defines your personality. A person’s posture is read in relation to the environment they find themselves. Message clustering is another important thing we must take cognizance of while reading people’s postures and gestures. In this study, we will peruse sitting and standing postures. When a person sits, the parts of the body that are exposed are the upper parts and this is what people focus on. However, in this lesson, I will explore the lower parts of the body as research has recently postulated that it encompasses many messages than the upper part. So, what are the messages in a person’s sitting posture? The second segment of this lesson will focus on standing posture and this is usually witnessed when officers are on the field—checkpoints, borders, airports, parks and other open spaces. The way a criminal suspect maintains a stance communicates hidden messages to us. So, we will consider all the possible interpretations of standing postures and how we can use it in crime detection.

To investigate the manner of expression of criminals. There is a wide difference between speaking and talking. While the former is a skill, the latter is what everyone else can do even without paying attention. At a point or the other, we are all forced to speak and the sincerity of our words is dependent on how they are being delivered. Thus, there is need for us to pay attention to how we speak and what we intend to achieve with our words. As law enforcement officers, this is a communication skill that must be an inevitable part of us. If your words lack the right conviction, getting suspects to confess will be a herculean task. So, in this chapter, I will give you a guide to improving your speaking skill. More importantly, you need to understand the way criminals speak. There is a ‘criminal world’ where they have their own idiosyncrasies. That is, words that have straightforward meaning in the conventional world are being twisted by criminals to connote other things different from what any normal person can easily think of. So, in this section, I will enumerate some and give examples of their usage.

To understand the body language messages of hand movements. Apart from eyes movement, another part of our body that resonates is the hand. Except we intentionally stiffen our hands, they will definitely move during conversations and the way we portray them bear messages that may go beyond the scope of our understanding. Even if they are stiffened, that is a whole lot of messages for the law enforcement. First, I will state some conventional usefulness of the hands—the roles the hands play in our everyday lives. The thrust of this chapter, however, is based on the body language interpretation of hands movements. During interrogations, criminals make use of the hands to either emphasize what they are saying or disagree with them. So, law enforcement officers can depend on the subtle clues provided through the hands to know how to frame their questions and the aspects to focus on. Criminals may steeple, rub or even hide their hands; all these are signs that reveal their inner intents. So, what are the interpretations of these clues and many more? This chapter will engagingly answer the question and take us in-depth in perusing related concepts.

To understand the effects of culture on body language interpretation. Culture and body language reading are two inseparable elements as they are deeply interwoven. Culture is the way of life of a given people. How we all behave is a reflection of the culture in which we find ourselves. While the western world epitomizes individualism, Africa and most parts of Asia favor communal living. In addition, the western world expects people to look at each other straight in the face during business dealings as a means of truthfulness of the deals while Japanese culture sees that as an affront, especially if the deal is between an elderly fellow and a young mind. Thus, it becomes unarguably complicated and unfair to use the same yardstick in interpreting the body language cues of the two parallel cultures. After explaining the general meaning of culture, I intend to focus on the Asian culture as this is our home. Then, I will move on to reel out some cultural interpretations of body language signals. This chapter will be brought to a conclusion by considering some body language interpretations in the Asian world and how they can be compared with other parts of the world.

To know the reasons people fail to rightly interpret body language signals. This concluding chapter serves as the other side of the coin to Chapter Fourteen. Many law enforcement officers fail to rightly interpret body language cues because of numerous reasons that would be explicated in this lesson. We will open up our discussion of the chapter by investigating place of impression. Many people have the impression that body language reading can never be accurate and that alone depresses them from giving their best shot at it. So, the question we are going to engage ourselves with is that, is impression a true reflection of the state of things in the world or just an imagination of people? Related to impression is stereotypical thought. When you are myopic about your thoughts without giving in room for possible developments and new thoughts to flourish in you, it would be difficult to rightly interpret body language cues. So, I aim to explain what stereotype means and how they in turn affect our thoughts. The main question that will dominate the whole of the chapter is: What are the wrong interpretations of body language? With this clearly answered, adjusting will become pretty easy.