FINAL Sole Source Justification - NCIS Science-based Interview and Interrogation Training REDACTED.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION DOCUMENTATION

($5,000 to SAT/Open Market)

1. The service or supply listed on N63285-21-RC-A1010 is sole source and competition is precluded for reasons indicated below. There are no substitutes available for this material or service.

2. Restricted to the following source. Provide original manufacturer’s name. (If a sole source manufacturer distributes via dealers, ALSO provide dealer information.)

Manufacturer: Evocavi, LLC

Mfr. POC & phone number: Matt Jones, 480-707-8023

Mfr. Address: 2063 E Willow Wick Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85296

3. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C.

2304(c)(2), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 – Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

4. Identification of the justification rationale. The acquisition is being conducted under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(i) Soliciting from a single source. The justification for restricting competition is that Evocavi LLC is only source that can meet the requirement for NCIS to receive the most comprehensive and in-depth science-based interview and interrogation techniques, and learn how to successfully apply these techniques in a challenging and dynamic investigative environment. Without such training, their ability to enforce NCIS’ global mission to “prevent terrorism, protect secrets, and reduce crime” for the Department of Navy (DoN) will be significantly diminished.

5. Description of the item or service required, statement that the requested material or service represents the minimum requirements of the government, the estimated cost, and required delivery date or performance period.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) requires:

1) Contract instructional services, using practitioner-researcher instruction model, to conduct

40 hours of science-based interview and interrogation course to two (2) separate groups of

NCIS Special Agents including the NCIS training academy students, and Field Training

Agents.

2) Contract post-course consultation services to conduct 48 post-course active case interview/interrogation evaluations within 12 months of completing the course. Details for each service are provided below.

DEPAR TM ENT OF T HE NAVY

HEADQUARTE RS

NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE

27130 TELEGRAPH ROAD

QUANTICO VA 22134 -2253

For the 40-hour course using the practitioner-researcher instruction model, the course will provide a robust, science-based foundational interview and interrogation techniques to ensure the students receive the latest science-based knowledge on interview and interrogation approaches that are ethical and effective; have students apply learned techniques during practical exercises in each training module; and have students apply all learned techniques in a full-day interview/interrogation practical exercise at the end of the course. This course will provide an overview history of interview and interrogation techniques used over the years within the law enforcement context, discuss rationale for transitioning from accusatory style to science-based approach of interview and interrogation, and discuss science-based techniques that have been examined in research studies and how they are applied in the field.

Additionally, it will cover topics including impression management and rights advisement, preparation and planning, framing questions, funnel questioning, active listening skills, rapport and motivational interviewing, foundation of memory, cognitive interview, resistance management, deception detection, strategic use of evidence, and false confessions.

The students will receive detailed, critical feedback regarding their interview and interrogation performance throughout the course. After completing the course, the students will be equipped with up-to-date science-based information on and application of the interview and interrogation techniques. Upon completion of this course, the students will incorporate the science-based knowledge on interview and interrogation along with the associated techniques and perform ethical, effective, and efficient interviews and interrogations during criminal investigations in their respective field offices. For the NCIS academy training instructors, FTAs, and SSAs, they will be equipped with the same up-to-date science-based knowledge to provide continuous coaching sessions for the agents. The training course shall be presented at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) located in Brunswick, GA.

Following course completion, 48 post-course active case interview and interrogation evaluations will be provided by reviewing pre-recorded individual agent interviews/ interrogations for up to three (3) hours in one-week increments throughout the year as needed at the NCIS HQ. The contract instructors will provide verbal feedback by phone or through a virtual platform for up to one (1) hour to the Special Agent with his/her SSA, FTA, NCIS training instructor, and NCIS HQ CRIM Psychologist. All anonymized data collected from these evaluations will be stored on NCIS servers in aggregate form for further analysis to identify positive trends and remedial training issues in the field, and inform the interview and interrogation training curriculum.

Notional Schedules are below for the 2 classes:

NCIS Special Agent Basic Interview Course for Special Agent Basic Training Program

(SABTP) (5-days), April 5 - 9, 2021 (Monday – Friday class): Four (4) full-time instructors:

One (1) in person instructor and three (3) virtual instructors; 24 students.

NCIS Special Agent Basic Interview Course for Special Agent Basic Training Program

(SABTP) (5-days), May 17 – 21, 2021 (Monday – Friday class): Four (4) full-time instructors: Three (3) in-person instructor and one (1) virtual instructors; 24 students.

NCIS Post-Course Special Agent (SA) interview Evaluations (48 post course evaluations, one interview per SA).

Total estimated cost is $80,976.00.

6. Specific characteristics of the material or service that limit the availability to this/these source(s) (unique features, function of the item, etc.). Describe in detail why only this/these suggested source(s) can furnish the requirements to the exclusion of other sources. Provide a description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results OR a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

The science-based interview and interrogation course curriculum will only cover interview and interrogation techniques that have been validated by scientific research. It uses the practitioner-researcher instruction model, a unique feature in which the practitioner is an instructor who has in-depth knowledge on the science-based interview and interrogation techniques and is currently active in conducting criminal investigations, using these techniques in the field, and teaching law enforcement personnel on these techniques. In addition, the practitioner has been collaborating with academic researchers in conducting interview and interrogation research projects. The researcher is an instructor who is an academic faulty at an university with years of experience conducting interview and interrogation research and presenting the research findings at various conferences and symposiums, has been publishing in academic peer-reviewed journals as the lead author, and has been awarded multiple federally-funded research grant examining interview and interrogation over the years. Together, the contractors have over 30 years of combined knowledge and experiences in conducting criminal investigations and research in interview and interrogation. This type of instruction model is aimed to educate and instruct students in the science-based interview and interrogation techniques, and provide the opportunity for the students to engage in productive discussions with the researcher and practitioner in understanding how certain techniques have been demonstrated as ethical, valid, and reliable through research, and how these techniques are applied effectively and appropriately in the field.

This vendor offers the means to achieve this specialized “practitioner-researcher instruction model” and provides extensive expertise and knowledge on science-based interview and interrogation techniques that are not currently available at the NCIS training academy.

To illustrate the reason this particular vendor is the only vendor who can furnish the requirements, below discusses the market research conducted and the research results along with additional justification that explains that need for a sole source contract.

Criteria for science-based interview and interrogation training vendor selection are:

1. Only use the science-based interview and interrogation techniques, cognitive interview, motivational interview, and strategic use of evidence techniques. Training must not utilize techniques such as statement analysis that lack an adequate scientific basis. Training must also not include Reid or Reid-related techniques which have been scientifically proven to be psychologically coercive and ineffective.

2. Only use a joint practitioner-researcher instruction model for the interview and interrogation training course.

3. Qualifications of the interview and interrogation training instructors must meet the requirements as stated in the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

4. The interview and interrogation training materials used must be based on science-based techniques that have been examined by academic peer-reviewed research studies and how such techniques are applied.

5. Provide post-course interview and interrogation performance evaluations.

The link http://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs/search/dsp_quicksearch.cfm was reviewed and a search was conducted using the Quick Market Search function. The search term “interview and interrogation training” was used and produced one company, Anderson Investigative

Associates (AIA), that fall under the woman or women owned category. To expand the search, “interrogation” was used as the search term and the search results produced 28 companies. Within the 28 companies, nine companies are under the woman or women owned category, seven companies are under the service disabled veteran category, and the remaining

12 companies are under the veteran category. For the nine woman or women owned companies, two vendors (Redulla-Perez Investigative Resources LLC and Seva 6 Security

Consulting LLC) appear to provide support, but not training on interview and interrogation and no website information is available to provide additional information. For the seven service disabled veteran owned companies, they provide security clearances and background investigations, counter-intelligence/counter-terrorism/infrastructure protection/surveillance services, transcription services, threat vulnerability consultation, and security services. None of these vendors provide interview and interrogation trainings. For the 12 veteran owned companies, they provide security clearance background investigation, surveillance, threat assessment, counter-intelligence/counter-terrorism/infrastructure protection/surveillance services, audio recording and transcription services, security protection, corrosion mapping and weld interrogation, and private sector coordination. None of these vendors provide interview and interrogation trainings.

The link https://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov was reviewed and a search was conducted using the search function. The “interview and interrogation training” search term was used but it did not produce any matches. To expand the search, “training services” was used as the search term and the results showed a list of categories that provide a wide range of services such as: EEO; professional development; vocational vehicle; surface preparation, training devices and materials for software programs, simulators, equipment, and print/audio/visual, digital format training products; commercial satellite communications solutions, equipment service agreements, testing laboratory services, engineering system design and integration services, smart building systems integration, data protection, travel consulting, and security and protection. Under the Category Guide section, Professional Services category was explored. In the Professional Services page, the training category was reviewed and interview and interrogation training was not identified. Security and Protection category was explored as well and interview and interrogation training services were not identified.

http://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs/search/dsp_quicksearch.cfm https://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov/

Google online search was conducted and the “interview and interrogation training” search term was used. Results showed five companies that offered interview and interrogation training. These companies include Savage Training Group, the CTK Group, Public Agency

Training Council, Wicklander –Zulawski & Associates, Inc., and Behavior Analysis Training

Institute. In addition to the online search, two additional companies, Forensic Interview

Solutions and Evocavi LLC, were identified through attending external interview and interrogation trainings. A list of the above vendors is shown in Table 1. Online review of each vendor’s website was conducted and follow-up call to each vendor was made.

Descriptions for each company and associated reviews are detailed in the Market Research

Memorandum included in the Contract File.

Based on market research conducted, Evocavi, LLC, has been identified as the sole vendor who will meet NCIS' needs based on their use the practitioner-researcher instruction model to provide up-to-date knowledge on science-based interview and interrogation techniques and the applicability of these techniques in the field. The practitioner has been working as a law enforcement investigators for over 15 years, using the science-based techniques in the field during the course of criminal investigations, and teaching these techniques in the field. In addition, the practitioner actively and regularly reviews scientific research studies on interview and interrogation practices, and has been collaborating closely with academic researchers on research projects focusing on the area of interview and interrogation. The researcher member of the team is a member of an academic faculty, is conducting interview and interrogation research, and has been an expert witness on legal cases addressing issues of interviews and interrogations for over 15 years. Combining their law enforcement and researcher expertise, they have the full capability to create and develop tailored, science-based interview and interrogation courses based on specific NCIS investigative matters, engage in educational discussions with the students regarding the training topics, and provide detailed and critical feedback on students’ practical exercise performance in the course.

These qualities are required for NCIS to provide high quality, robust training for its Special

Agents to ensure they perform effective and efficient interviews/interrogations ethically and competently and are positioned to effectively fulfill NCIS' crucial mission.

The list of issues identified with the current interview and interrogation training and techniques used in the field impacts the quality of criminal investigations at NCIS as well as prosecution success in the Navy. There is a critical need for this sole source contract to be executed immediately to address these issues. If Evocavi LLC is not selected, it will negatively impact, now and in the future, NCIS personnel’s interview and interrogation capabilities; one of the essential elements for a thorough criminal investigation. It is crucial that NCIS personnel receive the most comprehensive and in-depth science-based interview and interrogation techniques, and learn how to successfully apply these techniques in a challenging and dynamic investigative environment. Without such training, their ability to enforce NCIS’ global mission to “prevent terrorism, protect secrets, and reduce crime” for the Department of Navy (DoN) will be significantly diminished.

7. Other information to support a sole source buy:

N/A

8. TECHNICAL OR REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION:

I Certify That The Facts And Representations Under My Cognizance Which Are Included In

This Justification, Which Form A Basis For This Justification, Are Complete And Accurate.

9. TECHNICAL COGNIZANCE

Name: Dr. Grace Chang Title: CRIM Psychologist Code: 23

Signature: Date:

10. CONTRACTING OFFICER

Name:

Signature: Date: