Project Aletheia
A Collaborative Center for Improving the Science and Practice of Interrogation
Objectives
Bridging Research and Practice
Through collaboration and exchange, Project Aletheia aims to stimulate scholarship and improve the practice of interrogation. Membership is open to all who have an interest in interrogation and a belief in the power of collaboration to drive positive change.
Vision and Impact
Through services that highlight emerging research and current and important issues of practice Project Aletheia serves as the most up-to-date repository of resources relating to the science and practice of interrogation.
Community and Collaboration
At Project Aletheia, our guiding principle is that communities of research and practice must work together to foster positive developments in interrogation science, policy, and practice. Thus, Project Aletheia also functions as a platform through which researchers and practitioners can engage, exchange ideas, collaborate on projects, and grow blended communities.
Affiliate Member Benefits
To achieve our goals Project Aletheia provides a range of services to those that sign up. Most importantly, reach and visibility are essential to the effectiveness of the platform. Thus, all products are open free of charge and to all that join, regardless of location, skill, knowledge, or discipline.
Connect
Project Aletheia is focused the stimulation of research and the formation of partnerships and collaborations. To support these goals Affiliates can follow and connect with other members who they wish to keep up with. Affiliates can also contact other members directly through the site.
Create Groups
To further facilitate genuine collaboration through the site Affiliates can create groups dedicated to topics important to them. Groups provide Affliates with a space to engage in discussions with their peers on topics of more niche interest.
Discuss
Affiliates can also engage in open forum discussions on the site on a range of important topics. These discussions provide Affiliates with an opportunity to share their views and expertise and to learn from others in our community.
Reflections
Affiliates can learn from experts within the Project’s advisory council. Periodically these individuals will provide valuable insights and reflections on their experience with interrogation in the field. These insights may highlight critical issues, call out progress and achievements, or identify collaborative successes.
Research
The basic premise of Project Aletheia is that for research to translate to practice, it needs to reach practitioners and stakeholders. To achieve this goal we commission research reports from subject-matter experts, publish original summaries of recent research, and longer format reviews. All of which are expressly written to be accessible to anyone.
Newsletters
Affiliates will also benefit from our periodic newsletter titled the Roundup. This newsletter will include recent content from the site such as reflections and research reports. We also use the newsletter to communicate news and updates. However, an especially important goal of the newsletter is to disseminate Affiliate contributions, allowing us to highlight your activities and achievements.
Read More
Leadership
Director & Co-Founder
Maria Hartwig, Ph. D
The chief leaders of Project Aletheia are co-founders and Directors Maria Hartwig, Ph.D., and Mark Fallon. Maria Hartwig is a Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at CUNY where she has been on the faculty since 2006. Her scientific expertise is in the psychology of interrogation and the related topic of the psychology of deception. She has produced research with the support of and in collaboration with various government agencies and entities, including law enforcement, the Department of Defense, and the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG). Hartwig’s work on strategic interrogation techniques is widely disseminated and is incorporated in the training programs of the HIG, within federal law enforcement training programs, and in practice on state and local levels.
Director & Co-Founder
Mark Fallon
Mark Fallon is the Director of ClubFed Strategic Services, and while a visiting scholar at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, co-founded Project Aletheia. Mark is the former Interim Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL), in the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the CERL Advisory Council, and on the Steering Committee of the Méndez Principles of Effective Interviewing. Mark is a leading expert on interrogation, criminal investigations, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism operations. He has led some of the most important counterterrorism investigations in recent history (e.g., the attack on the USS Cole (DDG-67), the investigation and prosecution of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, commonly known as The Blind Sheik, and the Pentagon task force charged with bringing the terrorists of 9/11 to justice before Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba). Fallon’s hybrid experience stems from serving as a career Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Special Agent and Deputy Assistant Director, a member of the Senior Executive Service within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an International Security consultant, and Past-Chair of both the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) Research Committee, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) International Managers of Police Academy and College Training (IMPACT) Section.
Lead Project Coordinator
Braden Campbell
Braden Campbell is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the Graduate Center of CUNY, in the subprogram on psychology and law housed at John Jay College, and a primary mentee of the PI. He is in charge of many administrative elements of the platform including managing the website and moderating Affiliate uploaded content. In addition, all questions relating to the site and the platform will be fielded and either answered by him or redirected towards the individual most qualified to answer. You may either send questions to info@project-aletheia.org or message Braden directly on the site.
Project Coordinator
Tahir Fazal
Tahir works at John Jay College’s Office for the Advancement of Research, where he is a Research Operations Assistant. He manages and processes John Jay College’s research and travel accounts, manages internal funding (scholarships and awards), and executes contract management with other university entities.
He also keeps track of overall travel budgets, departmental spending, departmental distribution policies, and ensures that procurement processes comply with university policies.
Tahir obtained a master’s degree in social and organizational psychology from the University of Exeter, UK, with Merit; his studies were supported by a Global Excellence Award. While studying in the UK, he worked as a market researcher for the Exeter City Council.
Advisory Council
The role of the Advisory Council is to support Project Aletheia in major decision-making processes and provide general input via their vast ranging expertise
Laurence Alison Ph.D
Professor Laurence Alison, Ph.D., University of Liverpool, UK, focuses on high-profile critical incidents, and has 28 years of experience working on applied projects for law enforcement and security services. He currently provides training to the FBI, CIA, and US military, as well as law enforcement and security authorities within the UK, including UK counterterrorism personnel and the British Army, in evidence-based interrogation methods.
Steven J. Barela Ph.D
Steven J. Barela is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) in the Department of History and Philosophy of Law and is also an Associate Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Barela is a co-editor of the sweeping volume Interrogation and Torture: Integrating Efficacy with Law and Morality capturing global insights on interrogation from science, law, and morality. Moreover, as Editor, he led the Chairperson’s Editorial Group on the “Principles of Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering” (Méndez Principles) and participated in the Drafting Groups.
Cal Corley
Cal Corley is a former Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and head of the Canadian Police College, which provides advanced training to Canadian police services. With extensive operational and executive-level experience, he also served as the RCMP Senior Envoy to Mexico and the Americas, and on Canada’s Privy Council Office, within the Security and Intelligence Secretariat.
Timothy Janowick
Timothy Janowick is the Deputy Mission Advisor for the Department of Justice, International Criminal Investigation Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) Regional Program Office in Ukraine. He was the Chief of Police of the Mount Prospect Police Department in Illinois, is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), International Managers of Police Academy and College Training (IMPACT) Section, and is on the Advisory Board of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA).
Pär Anders Granhag Ph.D
Professor Pär Anders Granhag, PhD, Department of Psychology at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His research includes cognitive psychology, in particular human judgment and decision-making, memory, and meta-memory. He has also conducted extensive research on the psychology of deception, the psychology of interrogation, and the psychology of criminal investigations and the courts. He is the founder and director of the Research Unit for Criminal, Legal, and Investigative Psychology (CLIP), which has been singled out for its excellence in producing research.
Frazier Thompson
Frazier Thompson retired in 2019 from the FBI as a Senior Executive with over 24 years of federal law enforcement service, including serving as the Director of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) and the Chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Training Center, with assignments to Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He is currently the Global Security Manager for a global Fortune 500 company.
Andrew Thompson
Andrew Thompson is a Certified Fraud Examiner and Senior Investigator at a world-leading law firm that has prosecuted some of the most significant securities fraud cases in recent memory, including Boeing’s 737-Max safety issues and Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal. His operational experiences developing HUMINT sources, interviewing homicide suspects, and providing close protection to heads of state have all been informed by his academic pursuits in psychology and law.
Robert McFadden
Robert McFadden is a 30-year veteran of the US federal law enforcement, intelligence, and counterintelligence communities and held several high-profile positions, including NCIS Deputy Assistant Director. He served in numerous assignments in the Near and Middle East and was the NCIS case agent for the investigation of the attack on the USS Cole, the 9/11 al-Qa’ida task force, and assisted in the investigation and interrogation of terrorist suspects held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for trials before military commissions.
Mark Severino
Mark Severino retired from the Los Angeles Police Department, as a Detective Supervisor in the Major Crimes Division after serving thirty-five years. Mark was frequently requested to assist the FBI and DHS in Counter Terrorism and Organized Crime investigations. Mark had coordinated investigations that were briefed at the highest level of the U.S. Government and had received international media attention by “The Wall Street Journal” regarding an investigation that involved terrorist funding. Mark has also provided classified briefing to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Intelligence, regarding complex investigations that originated from the City of Los Angeles. Mark served as liaison between the Los Angeles Police Department’s Major Crimes Division and the U.S. Government’s High Value Detainee Interrogation Group.
Undercover Operatives 1 and 2
There are two active undercover police officers within a major metropolitan police department on the Advisory Council, whose names remain undisclosed for operational security reasons. Their undercover duties include counterterrorism operations, homicides, corruption, narcotic operations, and human trafficking. They have been training in HIG-sponsored interrogation techniques and have incorporated these techniques into their practice.
Student Editorial Team
Project Aletheia is supported by a team of John Jay students who contribute with Research Summaries, Research Bulletins, and Media.
Jemma Williams
Jadaera Lorenzo
Karen Niremberg
Emily Ives
Jessica Palatnik
Jadaera Lorenzo
Karen Niremberg
Emily Ives
Jemma Williams
Amanda Malandruccolo
You must be logged in to post a comment.