# How to make the guilty party confess? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 8, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496 "2012-06-08T13:08:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/1 "2012-06-08T13:08:14Z")
I have a situation at work to deal with and could use some advice. Some one on my team is engaging in behavior that isn’t allowed and in fact violated their terms of employment. I’m not able to tell which of several people it is however. Its as if one of 6 people left a porno mag in a shared space, but there is no way to track who accessed the space at the time. I need the guilty party to confess and resign. Of course they won’t be willing to. Any suggestions on how to make this happen? Do I threaten to fire all of them unless Guilty Party comes forward? All contract workers so I could fire them all this morning if I wished to. But that may freak out all the non-guilty people and destroy morale even if Guilty Party confesses. Also, we had a similar situation about 8 months ago with dire warnings all around, but apparently that didn’t sink in. Help. How do I make the guilty party come forward? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/2 "2012-06-08T13:18:34Z")
You can’t. If you’re talking about a job loss situation there’s no guaranteed way to ensure someone feels bad and takes the hit. In fact they might throw someone else under the bus. What you need to do now is have another serious talk with the team and include the measures that you’re going to take to ensure that when this happens again you know who it is. Depending on what that situation is it could include camera’s in the break room, keyloggers on PC’s etc, recording user ID’s that access specific data - without more information on what the offense was I can’t recommend what but there’s always a way it’s just usually expensive. If this is serious enough that you’re willing to fire someone over it you can’t count on their guilt, you’ve got to be willing to put the effort into knowing who did it. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/3 "2012-06-08T13:19:03Z")
There’s no way you can make this happen. Where’s the incentive? Confession means getting fired. Leaving a porn mag seems like a silly reason to fire 6 people. Don’t try to appeal to someone’s better nature- they may not have one. Try and invoke their self-interest instead. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/4 "2012-06-08T13:36:19Z")
I hear the rack is remarkably effective. So effective, they may all very well confess. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/5 "2012-06-08T13:54:59Z")
> [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > Do I threaten to fire all of them unless Guilty Party comes forward? There is a chance this will work, but as already stated, if the guilty party does not have a better nature, it may not. After all, whoever they are, they (presumably) know they have broken the terms of their employment already. There is no incentive for them to confess if you threaten to fire everyone, as if they confess they will be fired anyway. It’s a tricky problem, and I don’t think you’ll get a solution unless we can have some more idea of the specifics - however, I appreciate you may not be able to go into these while maintaining confidentiality. Do you have a superior you can report the issue to? That’s what superiors are there for - making tough decisions. But I can see you might think this could reflect badly on you (I’m a team leader myself). I agree with what has been said - you need to take steps to either prevent the possibility of this recurring, and/or set things up such that you have evidence of who the guilty party if it does. It’s hard to think of a scenario where this is not possible. Innocent until proven guilty. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/6 "2012-06-08T13:57:40Z")
Trial by combat? Gather everyone in the study and try to trick the guilty party into revealing themselves? Put each of them in a room and tell them they will be fired when someone else identifies them, but will only receive a 50% pay cut if they confess? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/7 "2012-06-08T14:16:05Z")
Throw them in a pond. Everyone knows the innocent sink and drown. Fire the survivors. Really threatening to fire everyone will make you look like a petty tyrant. Remind all of them about workplace rules and what will happen if they get caught. Then move on. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/8 "2012-06-08T14:50:39Z")
If you are in a state where it would be permitted, set up someone to come in with a lie detector. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/9 "2012-06-08T15:06:11Z")
Forget about it. You’re inviting a lawsuit, and causing overall stress to the innocent parties over a harmless act. You have no evidence, so you don’t even know if it’s one of the people you suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/10 "2012-06-08T15:15:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Some one on my team is engaging in behavior that isn’t allowed and in fact violated their terms of employment. I’m not able to tell which of several people it is however. Its as if one of 6 people left a porno mag in a shared space, but there is no way to track who accessed the space at the time. 😕 I do believe that this is why nannycams were invented, if this is an ongoing behavior. If it only happened once, and you don’t think it’s going to happen again, then getting and installing a nannycam isn’t worth it. But if you think this offense might be repeated…just call yourself Big Brother. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/11 "2012-06-08T15:18:54Z")
It’s not important to find out who took the strawberries. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/12 "2012-06-08T15:28:08Z")
In thye old days, we’d beat the perp with a phone book. Didn’t leave any marks. But phone books are rarer these days, and I doubt the porno mag would make a good substitute. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/13 "2012-06-08T15:32:42Z")
Another vote for: you can’t Someone broke the terms of their employment, but _they got away with it_. You could talk to them one by one or as a group to reiterate the terms, and threaten action if it ever happens again, and you can take steps to try to catch them in the act in future, but this time, _they got away with it, because you didn’t catch them_. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/14 "2012-06-08T16:02:41Z")
To those mentioning the porno mag, I think it was a hypothetical comparison to what it could be: From the OP: > [@](#): > > Its as if one of 6 people left a porno mag in a shared space, but there is no way to track who accessed the space at the time. (My WAG interpretation - did someone download porn to a shared drive using a shared login?) I agree, you’re not going to get a confession. You need to either eliminate the loophole that lets whatever disallowed activity happen, or increase monitoring - or just shrug. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/15 "2012-06-08T16:04:53Z")
> [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > I have a situation at work to deal with and could use some advice. > > Some one on my team is engaging in behavior that isn’t allowed and in fact violated their terms of employment. I’m not able to tell which of several people it is however. Its as if one of 6 people left a porno mag in a shared space, but there is no way to track who accessed the space at the time. > > I need the guilty party to confess and resign. Of course they won’t be willing to. > > Any suggestions on how to make this happen? Do I threaten to fire all of them unless Guilty Party comes forward? All contract workers so I could fire them all this morning if I wished to. But that may freak out all the non-guilty people and destroy morale even if Guilty Party confesses. > > Also, we had a similar situation about 8 months ago with dire warnings all around, but apparently that didn’t sink in. > > Help. How do I make the guilty party come forward? You can interview each person individually, and look deep into their eyes, and try to get them to crack. Except, the tactics you use to get the guilty party to crack are going to anger and humiliate the innocent. If you don’t care about humiliating your employees, why not just fire them all and hire new contractors? You want the guilty party to come forward and confess, so you can fire them. Can you not see that the guilty party has absolutely no incentive to confess? What’s in it for them? The only way to make sure the guilty party is fired over this particular offense is to fire everyone. If you’re not willing to do that, then the guilty party has gotten away with violating company policy. This time. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/16 "2012-06-08T16:12:42Z")
Gather them all in a room, and tell them that you sprayed the area with a special chemical which is just now turning the guilty party’s hands blue. The one who doesn’t look at his hands is the guilty one. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/17 "2012-06-08T16:23:58Z")
> [@](#): > > My WAG interpretation - did someone download porn to a shared drive using a shared login? If this or something similar is what happened, then the answer is simple…no more shared logins. Everyone gets his/her own password, and is responsible for whatever happens on that account. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/18 "2012-06-08T16:25:24Z")
The comfy chair. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/19 "2012-06-08T16:37:52Z")
The only way this could possibly work is interviewing each individually, pretending you have more evidence than you do, and hoping one will confess or rat out the guilty party. Even that though is a long shot. You might just be better off gathering them in a group, explaining that rules were broken, and giving the guilty party an opportunity to confess. Assuming they don’t, explain the consequences of it happening again (eg. you will fire everyone if the guilty party is not found). That way, you have enlisted every innocent person as a spy in order to save their job. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496/20 "2012-06-08T16:55:28Z")
If they do not know you know about the mag behind left behind, what you could do is to talk to them individually and bring up a similar situation that happened to a friend of yours. Then ask what they think your friend should do to the person they caught. The person who left the mag will be much more uncomfortable answering the question, while the innocent ones won’t mind answering. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-the-guilty-party-confess/624496.md?page=2)