High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group
The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) serves as the U.S. government's primary entity responsible for developing, disseminating, and deploying ethical, lawful, science-informed interviewing techniques.
Mission
Exclusively led and managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the HIG ensures the nation’s interrogation resources apply the most effective methodology in gaining cooperation in complex human engagements.
The HIG is a learning organization that sponsors and manages a global research program; operationalizes research findings into specialized interrogation techniques; provides advanced training to investigative and analytic practitioners; and deploys those techniques through direct or enabled operational support.
HIG Research
The HIG Research Program is dedicated to advancing knowledge and innovation of ethical, lawful interviewing practices through a comprehensive approach that encompasses funding research, overseeing research output, translating research findings, and integrating feedback.
The Research Program’s main objectives are fourfold:
- funding and overseeing research by world-renowned scientists and experts;
- maintaining research-related products in a centralized repository;
- collaborating with applications teams to develop, test, and refine new tools and techniques based on emerging research;
- actively seeking and incorporating feedback from practitioners who implement the developed tools and techniques in real-world settings.
Research Applications
The Research Applications Activity (R2A) sits at the nexus of scientific research and the practice of science-informed human intelligence operations, to include interview and interrogation. Armed with constantly updated research, the R2A develops and refines protocols to apply that knowledge in the field, as well as disseminates those applications to the FBI and its partners.
Such disseminations include the provision of training in the HIG methodology of interview and interrogation, as well as operational consultation and the creation of bespoke solutions to a variety of operational challenges requiring insightful and nuanced human interaction.
Research Publications on Interviewing and Interrogation
The publications herein were produced from research contracts funded by the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these publications are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. government.
Intelligence Collection
The HIG’s intelligence collection operations are a joint effort between Intelligence Teams (ITs) and Intelligence Collection Teams (ICTs).
ITs continuously monitor current and emerging threats, as well as use the USIC’s access to high-value targets (HVTs), working collaboratively with partners to ensure all HIG collection activities are aligned with the USIC’s priorities. ITs thereby guide the ICTs’ collection efforts, both in terms of targets and intelligence requirements.
Most importantly to the HIG’s role as a learning organization, the ICTs collect information on the real-world use of the HIG methodology and provide that feedback to the HIG Research Team to fuel the HIG’s innovation cycle.
Even when HIG access to individuals is not possible, the HIG leverages partnerships to maximize the number of USIC requirements that can be met, regardless of which entity conducts the interview.
