Question

Case Study 1

A small group of dockworkers in California, working for Topside Industries, an international shipping company, was being investigated concerning its involvement in a theft. The theft itself was a rather simple operation. The dock hands unloading foreign-made products acted in collusion with their supervisors in order to steal certain items, which they marked on official invoices as “missing” or “damaged” due to shipping. They later sold the items on the black market and split the money between the conspirators. The fraud was discovered when Longstreet Enterprises’ Asian subsidiary contacted Meade about an unusual number of microwaves that were lost during shipment from Korea to Long Beach.

Young Mr. Sherman, the newest member of Meade’s security team, decided to simultaneously interview Mr. Lee and Mr. Jackson, two dockworkers, concerning their involvement in the fraud.

Never having actually met Sherman, Lee and Jackson were simply instructed to wait in the “interrogation” room in the security shop. Lee and Jackson arrived promptly at 8 a.m., dressed in their work clothes, and were seated. Via the intercom, they were told not to leave until Sherman gave them explicit permission to do so. Sherman did not enter the room until 9:30 a.m. He was escorted into the room by a burly security guard carrying a nightstick.

Lee, annoyed at Sherman’s tardiness, blurted out, “Hey, man, we have to get back to work. I’m not getting paid for time off the dock!”

Sherman made no reply. He only paced the room for what seemed an eternity to Jackson. Finally, Sherman moved deliberately and directly over to a chair on Lee and Jackson’s side of the table. Sherman pulled his chair within inches of the two men being interrogated and straddled the chair so that the back of the chair supported his arms.

“Lee, do you know what they did with pirates in pre-colonial Virginia?” asked Sherman. Lee shrugged a little bit and was struggling for an answer when Sherman interrupted. “They were executed in the gallows, and then their bodies were hung in iron cages on the shores of the bay as an example to would-be thieves and pirates. Not a pretty picture, is it, Lee?” Lee was at a visible loss for words.

Pulling two pens and two pieces of paper from his coat pocket and slamming them onto the table, Sherman raised his voice and said, “Now let’s cut through the crap. You dockies are guilty as hell. We’ve got a paper trail a mile long to prove it along with surveillance tapes and written confessions from Hill and Grant. Do yourselves a favor and write out your confessions. If you don’t, I might just have to leave you here with Bruno. And if you physically assault him and he beats you silly, well then it’ll be your word against his, comprende? Oh, yeah, you’ll still be under investigation for grand theft.”

1. Name at least three mistakes that Sherman made in interviewing Lee and Jackson?

Answer 1

Sherman the newest member of Meade's security team, or the investigater made some mistakes while interviewing Lee and Jackson. The first thing is that he did not give value or response to the suspects however they were only just suspects and were called for an interview. He gave no value to their time. He not only arrived late but also gave no value to their time as they are dockworkers who gets paid for their working hours. He could have treated them well or could have given a bit value to their life as they were not declared as thefts.

   Secondly Sherman behaved so rudely to Lee and Jackson through the drama. He tried to show his power and duty but it seemed to be rude as well. He acted disrespectfully and assumed them as to be the thefts. He could have first investigated about the theft in detail or he could have checked the survillence camera first and could have made a better conclusion than making some fault conclusions.

Sherman threatened the dockworkers to better give their confession or else they might be put into physical assault. It's not the right thing to threat someone to accept a crime by the tone of blackmailing. He made a threatening sound and ask them to make a confession or else they might be put to interview for some grand thefts.