Becky Milne

Professor of Forensic Psychology, University of Portsmouth

Becky is Director of the Centre of Forensic Interviewing housed at the University of Portsmouth and Deputy Chair of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group. She works closely with the police and other criminal justice organisations (in the UK and abroad), through the training of the Enhanced Cognitive Interview, Advanced Interviewing Practices (Tier 3 and 5), Witness/Suspect Interview Advising, the interviewing of vulnerable groups, and providing case advice as an expert advisor. Becky is a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Investigative Interviewing Strategic Steering Group and was part of a writing team who developed the 2007 version of the Achieving Best Evidence document, National guidelines for interviewing vulnerable groups. She is 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.

Personal webpage

Recent publications

O’Mahony, B., Creaton, J., Smith, K., & Milne, R. (in press). Developing a professional identity in a new work environment: the views of defendant intermediaries working in the criminal courts. British Journal of Forensic Practice.
Clarke, C., and Milne, R. (2016). Interviewing suspects in England and Wales: A National Evaluation of PEACE interviewing: One decade later. In D. Walsh, G. Oxburgh, A. Redlich, and T. Mykleburst, (Eds.), International developments and practices in investigative interviewing and interrogation, vol 2. Suspects. London: Routledge.
Milne, R., and Bull, R. (in press). Applying cognitive psychology to crime investigation. In D. Groome. (Ed.). An introduction to Applied Cognitive Psychology. Hove and New York: Psychology Press; Taylor and Francis Group.
Walsh, D., O'Callaghan, S., & Milne, R. (in press). Questioning the interrogational practices of U.S. law-enforcement officers: Psychological and legal perspectives. In A. Kapardis and D. Farrington; Psychology, crime, policing and courts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oxburgh, G., Myklebust, T., Grant, T., and Milne, R. (2015: Eds.). Communication in legal contexts: A handbook. Chichester: Wiley.
Davies, G., Bull, R., and Milne, R. (in press). Analysing and improving the testimony of vulnerable witnesses interviewed under the ‘Achieving Best Evidence’ protocol. In P. Radcliffe, A. Heaton-Armstrong, G. Gudjonsson, and D. Wolchover. (Eds.) Witness testimony in sexual cases: Investigation, law and procedure. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shawyer, A., and Milne, R. (2015). PEACE in fraud interviews: assumptions and detection of guilt and the impact on interviewer behavior. Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal, 17, 30-46.
Westera, N., Kebbell, M., and Milne, R. (in press). 'What is ‘doing our best’ in rape investigation?' Violence Against Women.
Walsh, D., Milne, R., and Bull, R. (2015). One way or another? Criminal investigators’ beliefs regarding the disclosure of evidence in interviews with suspects. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. DOI 10.1007/s11896-015-9174-5
Westera, N., Kebbell, M., McKimmie, B., Masser, B., & Milne, R. (2015). Does the narrative style of video-evidence influence judgments about rape complainant testing? Applied Cognitive Psychology. 1-10, DOI: 10.1002/acp.3146.
Poyser, S., and Milne, R. (in press). No grounds for complacency and plenty for continued vigilance: Miscarriages of justice as drivers for research on reforming the investigative process. Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles.
Halford, P., Horry, R., Brewer, N., Milne, R., and Bull, R. (2014). An archival analysis of encoding, retention, and arousal related factors on eyewitness identification outcomes. Law and Human Behavior, 38, 94-108.
Westera, N., Kebbell, M., Milne, R., & Green, T. (2014). Towards a more effective detective. Police and Society. DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2014.912647.
Westera, N., Kebbell, M., Milne, R., & Green, T. (2014). The prospective detective. Police and Society. DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2014.942845
Read, J., Powell, M., Kebbell, M., Milne, R., and Steinberg, R. (2014). Evaluating police interviewing practices with suspects in child sexual abuse cases. Policing and Society, 24, 523-544.