While interior design isn’t commonly associated with law enforcement, agencies that are looking to improve their facilities know that certain protocols for their room layouts need to be followed. The process of selecting the appropriate police interview room furniture for the space and paying attention to the design details is critical for delivering reliable evidence to the court.
Your Interview Room Space Needs Analysis
Before considering the types of furniture you should be using in your interview room, agencies should first assess the dimensions of the interview room itself. This space needs analysis will help determine the size of the furniture you will be using and also help to verify that the square footage of your facility’s interview room is compliant with the minimum standards set by law.
Ideally there would be a standardized interview room layout across jurisdictions; but as this is rarely the case, it’s always wise to double-check that your facility is up to code. With that clarification, you’ll be able to organize your budget and make plans to purchase any new police interview room furniture or new recording equipment for your facility.
How to Set Up Police Interview Room Furniture
In some ways, designing a professional space for law enforcement should be easier than reconfiguring a corporate office space. That being said, there are clear guidelines to follow. The best practice for setting up police interview room furniture is to keep it simple. Typically, agencies will only need a single writing surface and two or three chairs for the room. But how these items are positioned and placed can make all the difference for recording accurate interview evidence.
The seating must be arranged such that the interview subject’s entire body will be in view of the camera. The chair for the interview subject should also be the same make and model as the detective’s chair. This simple detail alone can help set a more comfortable tone for the space and ultimately encourage the subject to be more forthcoming.
Of course, the chairs themselves shouldn’t feel too relaxed. It’s usually best to have chairs without arms. They also shouldn’t swivel.
As for the writing seurface, the desk or table can be placed against a wall. Guilty suspects may start to feel more confident if any of the police interview room furniture can be used as a “shield” against the detective. Having the table set off to the side also ensures that the individual’s body will be in full view, allowing for the prosecution to interpret any nonverbal cues during the investigation.
We Can Help—From Start to Finish
Whether your agency is retrofitting an existing interview recording room or building a new facility from the ground up, there are multiple factors to consider. Conducting your space needs analysis and figuring out how to source and arrange your police interview room furniture is just the beginning. Partnering with an experienced solutions provider can help you stay on-track and on-budget for all of your upgrades.
Agencies across the United States and Canada call on iRecord for interrogation room setup support, audio video recording equipment installations, digital evidence management solutions, and more. We collaborate with agencies for both mobile interview recording systems, as well as onsite interview rooms.
If you’re ready to learn more about how we can streamline your process for recording interview evidence, please don’t hesitate to send us a message or check out our guide to interview room design. We’re here to help!