ABSTRACT
The police have, at a most fundamental level, the ability to select facts, to reject facts, to not seek facts, to evaluate facts and to generate facts. Facts are not objective entities which exist independently of the social actors but are created by them. Shielded from external scrutiny, police interrogation has historically been viewed with deep suspicion, and accusations of torture, third-degree, trickery and blandishments of various kinds have been levelled against the police with more or less credibility at frequent intervals. The establishment of 'a case' against an individual requires acceptance of or proof of certain basic facts and circumstances, the essential building blocks of a legally sustainable case. The integrity of the record is compromised by the fact that it ignores the police/suspect questioning that often precedes it. Police control over the authentication process is such that 'informal interviews' may take place 'off the record'.
