This University segment "Getting Criminals to Confess: What You Need to Know" highlights how effective communication, like using themes and rationalizations, can aid in suspects admitting guilt. It explains how these methods are applied in real crime situations, where officers analyze cues to identify suspects and use different tactics during questioning.

Lieutenant Erik Baum began his career at the Bergen County New Jersey Prosecutor’s Office and retired after 25+ years of service as the Lieutenant in charge of the Special Victims Unit, Coordinator for Bergen Counties CART (Child Abduction Response Team) and lead polygraph examiner. Baum served on several investigative units during his career including the Narcotics Task Force, Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit, Fugitive Squad, Special Victims Unit, and others. Baum has attended numerous Interview/Interrogation training courses throughout his career and has conducted several hundred victim/witness interviews and several hundred criminal suspect interviews and interrogations. Baum is also a certified polygraph examiner having attended the Texas Department of Law and Public Safety Law Enforcement Polygraph School and the Federal Bureau of Investigations Advanced Polygraph Training Class. As a polygraph examiner, he has conducted several hundred criminal issue polygraph examinations. Additionally, he has been certified as a police instructor in the State of New Jersey by the New Jersey Police Training Commission. Baum was the primary instructor for Interview/Interrogation at the Bergen County Police Academy and continues to instruct at other training academies including the New Jersey Top Gun training class.