A central component of any police-victim interaction is the interview. If police interviews are to be efficient and effective, changes need to be made in the ways in which police officers are trained to interview. A study involved the examination of 135 incidents of assault which occurred in the city of Aberdeen (Scotland) during 1982. Each statement was coded into action and description details. Each action detail was then categorized according to the person who had performed the action, whereas description details were categorized according to whom or what the description concerned. The four referrents were the witness, the victim, the accused, and any other people present at the incident and where the incident took place. Results clearly indicate that there can be considerable differences in the kinds and amounts of information reported to the police by different witness types. By making police officers more aware of the kinds of information likely to be recalled by a witness such as the victim, the structure of interviews can be individually tailored. The development of training programs enabling police officers to obtain a firm grasp of the basic skills of interviewing must be accomplished. 3 figures and bibliography