Police to study hypnosis techniques

Police will study hypnosis to help them encourage suspects to tel the truth
12 April 2012

Police officers will study hypnosis techniques to help them encourage suspects and witnesses to tell the truth.

Investigators from across Britain have been invited to a free taster workshop at the University of Chester next June.

It will be held by hypnosis specialist Tom Silver and aims to teach officers how to produce "the deepest and most receptive states of hypnosis".

Pc Mark Hughes, an investigative skills trainer with Cheshire Police who organised the session, said forensic hypnosis could be "another tool in the armoury".

He told Police Review: "Putting people in a receptive brainwave state makes it likelier that the truth will come out.

"Forensic hypnosis is a scientific approach, and special helmets monitor brain activity and those who lie have 'wide-awake brainwave patterns'."

Officers who want to take the methods further can sign up for a six-day course costing £1,370.

Mr Silver is better known as a celebrity hypnotherapist on US television, with appearances on programmes including the Montel Williams and Ricki Lake chat shows.

His website boasts his mission is to "bring brainwave understanding to everyone" and help people utilise the "science of the mind".

Pc Hughes added: "Forensic hypnosis does not prove guilt but it can give new lines of inquiry when traditional methods have failed."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in