During an interrogation, law enforcement aims to achieve what goal?

Law enforcement's primary goal during an interrogation is to elicit a confession or relevant information from the suspect. This objective focuses on gathering critical intelligence that can provide insights into the crime being investigated, clarify circumstances, or identify additional individuals involved. Successful interrogations can lead to confessions that contribute significantly to the prosecution's case, as well as to collecting valuable details that may assist in understanding the broader context of the incident.

While establishing rapport and documenting the encounter can be important aspects of the interrogation process, the main focus remains on obtaining information that advances the investigation. Legal counsel is typically not a goal of law enforcement during an interrogation, as the right to legal representation is a legal protection afforded to suspects rather than an objective of the interrogation itself. Thus, the emphasis is primarily on extracting pertinent information rather than other supportive or procedural elements.