KERRY WATKINS, LL.M.

DIRECTOR

647-282-0297
kerry@theinterviewgroup.com

EXTENSIVE PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE AND ACADEMIC EXPERTISE

Kerry had the opportunity to conduct more than two thousand interviews of victims, witnesses and suspects during his thirty-year investigative career. He has formally studied investigative interviewing methods for decades with some of the world’s leading practitioners and researchers from North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. He brings rigorous academic training and highly developed analytical skills to his study and teaching of interviewing methods, including graduate degrees in both criminology and criminal law from the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School. He is a strong proponent of continuing science-based education for investigative professionals and a frequent contributor to the interviewing literature. He has published on interviewing topics in investigative periodicals, and social science and law journals. Kerry is the principal author of the widely used text Interviewing and Investigation. Third Edition (2017).

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR AND INTERVIEWING INNOVATOR

Kerry was the lead interviewing instructor and course designer at the Toronto Police College from 2012 until his retirement in 2018. During his tenure as a full-time investigative educator he developed, introduced and taught innovative interview training courses to hundreds of new and experienced investigators. In 2017, he was granted the Chief of Police Award of Excellence for his outstanding contribution to interviewing education and practice in Canada. Aside from providing consulting and training services of unsurpassed quality to clients of The Interview Group, Kerry is also a part-time professor at Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber where he teaches interviewing and investigations. He is also an adjunct faculty member in the Ongoing Professional Development Program at Osgoode Hall Law School, where he co-developed and teaches in the investigative skills development certificate program.

INTERVIEWING EXPERT AND INDUSTRY LEADER

Kerry is one of the country’s foremost investigative interviewing experts. A highly sought after trainer and consultant, he is also in demand as a speaker at conferences and educational events for legal and investigative professionals. Over the years he has had the opportunity to speak to and to teach hundreds of investigators from a wide range of fields including: police, military, corporate, professional, regulatory and government. He is a long standing member of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG); and continues to contribute to the development of best practices and training in the field of investigative interviewing.

Member of the IIIRG

CONDUCTING INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWS WITHOUT THE PROPER TRAINING IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE, THE COSTS OF FAILURE ARE JUST TOO HIGH