Good Cop/Bad Cop?

We can do this the hard way, or we can do it the easy way.



Mr. Muscle - "We know you ate your lunch with muddy hands. Those cuticles are disgusting and you're a filthy pig. You didn't even use the nail brush, did you?"

Fairy - "I know you didn't mean to skip washing your hands before lunch. It was a mistake, right? Just tell me how it happened."

Our intrepid UK correspondent found and photographed this classic example of good cop/bad cop in the archaeologists' clean-up shack at the Roman fort site, Vindolanda, in Hexham, England.

Good cop/bad cop, known in British military circles as Mutt and Jeff (from an American newspaper comic strip of that name) and also called joint questioning and friend and foe, is a psychological tactic used for interrogation.

'Good cop/bad cop' tactics involves a team of two interrogators who take apparently opposing approaches to the subject. The interrogators may interview the subject alternately or may confront the subject at the same time.

The 'bad cop' takes an aggressive, negative stance towards the subject, making blatant accusations, derogatory comments, threats, and in general creating antipathy between the subject and himself. This sets the stage for the 'good cop' to act sympathetically: appearing supportive, understanding, in general showing sympathy for the subject. The good cop will also defend the subject from the bad cop. The subject may feel he can cooperate with the good cop out of trust and/or fear of the bad cop. He may then seek protection by and trust the good cop and tell him the needed information. - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If I ever meet these two I'm calling my attorney, Bon Ami, before I say a thing.