Confessions? Surely nobody has been coerced into confessing or had a faked one. I have a story. Confessions and eye witness accounts don't mean shit.
I was 17 and worked at a fast food place. We lived less than a half a mile from my work. One night I was walking home and saw some cops outside a house. I rerouted my walk home past that block and looked to see what was up. I didn't see anything and kept walking. A few minutes later a cop pulled up to me asking my name and other info. Then I went on my way home. They called my house the next day day and said for about a year I had been harassing a random old lady that lived there by ringing the doorbell, etc at all hours of the day. I was to go to the sheriffs office to be questioned.
I went to their location and was placed in a room and grilled for quite a long time. The cop said he had my time cards from work to match when I was at work and lunch (which he never had), and was telling me i was going to get many years in jail unless I wrote a confession of what I had done. He stated that the upstairs neighbor had said that he had witnessed me there on multiple occasions. The night in question the peephole was covered like the person usually did to the old lady, but with gum. They wanted to fingerprint me to look for a match but I was refusing.
My father was known in this town as he was a Senior Master Sergeant on the Air Force base there, as he had served well over 20 years in the same city (very unique). I knew who one of the sergeants at the Sheriffs office and refused to talk anymore to the person interrogating me. I told the sergeant that this was obviously bullshit and the obvious person behind all this was the upstairs tenant. He got me to agree to the fingerprints and I never heard from them again. Eventually I called the dick that questioned me and asked what was up. The case had been closed and the tenant was the quilty party as I had told the idiot. I chewed him out and told him exactly what I thought of him.
I don't hate cops, but I do not trust them either. When I see them somewhere investigating something, my rule is that it doesn't involve me and I don't care. Better than being blamed for something. When I see them behind me driving, I want to be as far away from them as possible. Driving a VW helps me blend. I feel bad for people who fall for their shit.
Working retail I remember a funny one on the west coast. I witnessed a a bunch of gang members breaking into cars. The cops came to the house for an on site police line up with six photos. They asked if I could ID the guy from the six photos and would proceed to run his finger across the pictures and subtly tap the photo I was to respond to based on the guy I had pointed out to them the night it happened. They could tap any image they want to get you to incriminate anyone they want.
I have no criminal record, and it, been almost 23 years since my only speeding ticket. Not a criminal.
TLDR: Cops are lazy and would like a fake confession instead of simple police work.