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Institute of Criminal Justice Research➞Members

Dr Becky Milne

  • Qualifications: BSc (Hons), PhD, CPsychol, CSci, AFBPsS
  • Role Title: Reader in Forensic Psychology
  • Address: St George's Building, 141 High Street, Portsmouth PO1 2HY
  • Telephone: 023 9284 3954
  • Email: becky.milne@port.ac.uk
  • Department: Institute of Criminal Justice Studies
  • Faculty: Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Human, Social and Mathematical Sciences

    • Biography

    Becky Milne is a Reader in Forensic Psychology at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth. A chartered forensic psychologist and scientist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, she is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Police Science and Management and is a member of the ACPO Investigative Interviewing Strategic Steering Group. She has worked closely with the police and other criminal justice organisations (in the UK and abroad) through training of the Enhanced Cognitive Interview, Witness Interview Advising and also in the interviewing of vulnerable groups (Tier 3 and 5) and providing case advice as an expert advisor.

    Research Interests

    • The cognitive interview – experimental work and application to the field.
    • Investigation – the process.
    • Access to justice of vulnerable groups (i.e. children, people with mental disorder, people with intellectual disabilities, the older adult, ASD etc.) from the investigation through to court.
    • Miscarriages of justice.

    Research Projects And Ph.D. Supervision Areas

  • 2010 ESRC follow-on grant (with Prof. Amina Memon, Royal Holloway, and Prof Dan Wright, Florida International University) - Best use of identification parades. (£69638.88)
  • A University Rio Grande do Sul Port Alegrae, Brasil funded project (with Prof. Lillian Stein and Masters student Graca Ballardin). Beyond interviewing techniques: Interviewer individual characteristics in police investigative interviews with witnesses.
  • French National Research Agency Grant (with Fanny Verkampt a post-doc at the University Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand) - The cognitive interview and children: a meta-analysis.
  • A project with Dr. Nicky Miller of the National Policing Improvement Agency, Serious Crime Analysis Section: on a National assessment of adult sexual offence victim interviews: How effective are they?
  • A Leverhulme funded project led by Dr. Robyn Holliday, (University of Leicester) with Prof. Ray Bull and Prof. Amina Memon entitled: Interviewing the older witness.
  • A Queensland Police, Australia, funded project led by Prof. Martine Powell (Deakin University) and Prof Mark Kebbell (Griffith University) examining the measurement and prediction of police interviewing performance and dissemination of good practice through a distributive workplace learning system. (Specifically for interviewing sex offenders).
  • Deakin University project led by Prof. Martine Powell, with Mia Gentle, examining:  Interviewing children with LD - a story narrative approach.
  • A University of Portsmouth funded elective student project; led by Becky Milne, with Dr. Lorraine Hope, Rachel Williams, and Dr. Colin Clarke entitled: Hand-written statements: How accurate are they really?
  • An ACPO approved project; led by Dr. Milne with Supt. Andy Griffiths (Sussex Police) , Pete Gartrell (Devon and Cornwall Police) entitled: . A National evaluation of the CI; Does it work in the field? How skilled are we?

    • Publications

    Monograph

    • Westera, N., Kebbell, M., Milne, Becky and Green, T. (2013) Defining the effective detective. Working Paper. Australian Research Council.
    • Westera, N., Kebbell, M., Milne, Becky and Green, T. (2013) Developing the ‘effective detective' of the future. Working Paper. Australian Research Council, Nathan, Queensland.

    Book

    • Williamson, T., Milne, Becky and Savage, Steve, eds. (2009) International developments in investigative interviewing. In: Williamson, T., Milne, Becky and Savage, Steve, eds. Willan Publishing, Cullompton. 
    • Wilcock, R., Bull, R. and Milne, Becky (2008) Witness identification in criminal cases: psychology and practice. In: Oxford University Press, Oxford.
    • Carson, David, Milne, Becky, Pakes, Francis, Shalev, Karen and Shawyer, Andrea, eds. (2007) Applying psychology to criminal justice. In: Carson, David, Milne, Becky, Pakes, Francis, Shalev, Karen andShawyer, Andrea, eds. Wiley & Sons, Chichester. 
    • Milne, Becky and Bull, Ray (1999) Investigative interviewing: psychology and practice. In: Wiley series in psychology of crime, policing & law . Wiley, Chichester, UK. 

    Book Section

    • Wright, D., Memon, A., Dalton, Gary, Milne, Becky and Horry, R. (2013) Field studies of eyewitness memory. In: Cutler, B., ed. Reform of eyewitness identification procedures :. American Psychological Association, Washington, pp. 179-203. 
    • Smith, K. and Milne, Becky (2011) Planning the interview. In: Lamb, M., La Rooy, D., Malloy, L. and Katz, C., eds. Children's testimony: a handbook of psychological research and forensic practice :. Wiley series in the psychology of crime, policing and law . Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Chichester, pp. 87-107. 
    • Griffiths, A. and Milne, Becky (2010) Application of the cognitive interview techniques as part of investigations. In: Ireland, C. and Fisher, M., eds. Consultancy and advising in forensic practice: empirical and practical guidelines :. Forensic practice . British Psychological Society, Chichester, pp. 71-80. 
    • Milne, Becky and Powell, M. (2010) Investigative interviewing. In: Brown, J. and Campbell, E., eds. The Cambridge handbook of forensic psychology :. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 208-214. 
    • Milne, Becky, Poyser, S., Williamson, T. and Savage, S. (2010) Miscarriages of justice: what can we learn? In: Adler, J. and Gray, J., eds. Forensic psychology: concepts, debates and practice :. Willan Publishing, Cullompton, pp. 17-37. 
    • Dando, C. and Milne, Becky (2009) Cognitive interviewing. In: Kocsis, R., ed. Applied criminal psychology: a guide to forensic behavioral sciences :. Charles C. Thomas Publishers, Springfield, Illinois. 
    • Shawyer, Andrea, Milne, Becky and Bull, R. (2009) Investigative interviewing in the UK. In: Williamson, T., Milne, Becky and Savage, Steve, eds. International developments in investigative interviewing :. Willan Publishing, Cullompton, pp. 24-38. 
    • Savage, Steve and Milne, Becky (2007) Miscarriages of justice. In: Newburn, T, Williamson, T. andWright, A., eds. Handbook of criminal investigation :. Willan Publishing, Cullhompton, pp. 610-627. 

    Article

    • Halford, P., Horry, R., Brewer, N., Milne, Becky and Bull, Ray (2013) An archival analysis of encoding, retention, and arousal related factors on eyewitness identification outcomes. Law and Human Behavior. pp. 1-15. 
    • Pescod, L., Wilcock, R. and Milne, Becky (2013) Improving eyewitness memory in police call centre interviews. Policing. pp. 1-8. 
    • Read, J., Powell, M., Kebbell, M., Milne, Becky and Steinberg, R. (2013) Evaluating police interviewing practices with suspects in child sexual abuse cases. Policing and Society. pp. 1-22. 
    • Horry, R., Memon, A., Milne, Becky, Wright, D. and Dalton, Gary (2013) Video identification of suspects: a discussion of current practice and policy in the United Kingdom. Policing. pp. 1-9. 
    • Milne, Becky, Sharman, S., Powell, M. and Mead, S. (2013) Assessing the impact of the cognitive interview on children with severe intellectual disabilities. International Journal of Development, Disability and Education, 60 (1). pp. 18-29. 
    • Gentle, M., Milne, Becky, Powell, M. and Sharman, S. (2013) Does the cognitive interview promote the coherence of narrative accounts in children with and without intellectual disability? International Journal of Development, Disability and Education, 60 (1). pp. 30-43. 
    • Clarke, J., Prescott, Katherine and Milne, Becky (2013) How effective is the cognitive interview when used with adults with learning disabilities specifically for conversation recall? Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disability. pp. 1-11. 
    • Westera, N., Kebbell, M. and Milne, Becky (2013) It is better, but does it look better? prosecutor perceptions of using rape complainant investigative interviews as evidence. Psychology, Crime & Law, 19 (7). pp. 595-610. 
    • Westera, N., Kebbell, M. and Milne, Becky (2013) Losing two thirds of the story: a comparison of the video-recorded police interview and live evidence of rape complainants. Criminal Law Review (4). pp. 290-308. 
    • Dalton, Gary, Gawrylowicz, J., Memon, A., Horry, R., Wright, D. and Milne, Becky (2013) Public perception of identification procedures in the UK. Policing. 
    • Holliday, R., Humphries, J., Milne, Becky, Memon, A., Houlder, L., Lyons, A. and Bull, Ray (2012)Reducing misinformation effects in older adults with Cognitive Interview mnemonics. Psychology and Aging, 27 (4). pp. 1191-1203. 
    • Snook, B., Luther, K., Quinlan, H. and Milne, Becky (2012) Let 'em Talk!: a field study of police questioning practices of suspects and accused persons. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 29 (10). pp. 1328-1339. 
    • Horry, R., Memon, A., Wright, D. and Milne, Becky (2012) Predictors of eyewitness identification decisions from video lineups in England: a field study. Law and Human Behavior, 36 (4). pp. 257-265. 
    • O'Mahony, B., Milne, Becky and Grant, T. (2012) To challenge or not to challenge: interviewing vulnerable suspects. Policing. pp. 1-13. 
    • Dando, C., Omerod, T., Wilcock, R. and Milne, Becky (2011) When help becomes hindrance: unexpected errors of omission and commission in eyewitness memory resulting from change temporal order at retrieval. Cognition, 121 (3). pp. 416-421. 
    • Prescott, Katherine, Milne, Becky and Clarke, J. (2011) How effective is the enhanced cognitive interview when aiding recall retrieval of older adults specifically with regards to conversation? Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8 (3). pp. 257-270. 
    • Griffiths, A., Milne, Becky and Cherryman, Julie (2011) A question of control? the formulation of suspect and witness interview question strategies by advanced interviewers. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 13 (3). pp. 255-267. 
    • Clarke, C., Milne, Becky and Bull, Ray (2011) Interviewing suspects of crime: the impact of PEACE training, supervision and the presence of a legal advisor. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8 (2). pp. 149-162. 
    • Oxburgh, G., Walsh, D. and Milne, Becky (2011) Investigative interviewing and applied research. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8 (2). pp. 105-109. 
    • Fisher, R., Milne, Becky and Bull, R. (2011) Interviewing cooperative witnesses. Current Directions In Psychological Science, 20 (1). pp. 16-19. 
    • Westera, N., Kebbell, M. and Milne, Becky (2011) Interviewing rape complainants: police officers' perceptions of interview format and quality of evidence. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 

    Full publication list

    Presentations

    • Clarke, C., and Milne, R. (2001). National evaluation of the PEACE investigative interviewing course. Police Research Award Scheme. London: Home Office.
    • Clare, I., Milne, R., and Bull, R. (1996). Obtaining eye-witness information from people with learning disabilities. Final Report to the Mental Health Foundation.

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