The Investigative Process

The responsibility of all who work within

the field of criminal justice, both public
and private investigators
Reasons to investigate:

1. Criminal act –

2. Background check –

3. Department policy –

4. Citizen complaint –

5. Rumors -
 Investigative Terminology

1. Crime – “an act or omission forbidden by law, punishable by a fine,

imprisonment, or death”

2. Investigation – “a patient inquiry or observation; to trace or track mentally

to search into; to examine”

3. Investigate – to determine if a crime has or has not occurred

- vestigare: to track or to trace

4. Criminal Investigation – “a thorough, and objective search for the truth”

Goals

1. Determine if a crime has been committed

2. Legally obtain evidence and information to identify suspects

3. Identification / arrest of suspects

4. Recover stolen property

5. Present solid case to prosecutor

 Both Science and Art

1. Laws of nature / scientific principles

2. Investigator’s ‘ART’ still relied on

3. Called hunch, gut feeling, or instinct

4. Experience, observation, and study

5. Learning / applying / changing

Successful Investigation

1. Logical sequence followed

2. Available evidence legally obtained

3. Witnesses located / effectively interviewed

4. Suspects effectively / legally interrogated

Success, cont.

5. Leads thoroughly developed / followed through

6. Details accurately and completely recorded /

reported

7. Evidence properly packaged / stored

8. Professional presentation in court

- includes evidential testimony
 Functions of Investigator

1. Protect yourself and others

- primary function

2. Provide emergency assistance

- if qualified

3. Secure location / crime scene

- already discussed

4. Initial observation / walk through

- understanding of crime
 Functions, cont.

5. Photograph / video / sketch / record

6. Make notes or recordings to write reports

- maintain notebook for court

7. Search for physical evidence

- take custody of
- process all evidence

8. Obtain information from all who

have knowledge
 Functions, cont.

9. Identify suspect or primary

10. Conduct surveillance / stakeouts / other undercover assignments

11. Conduct raids when necessary

12. Testify in court

INVESTIGATING THEFT
Theft Act Investigative
Methods
Methods that directly investigate theft

Examples:
 Surveillance and covert operations
 Invigilation
 Obtaining physical evidence
 Gathering electronic evidence

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Theft Act Investigative
Methods
The three types of surveillance:
(1) stationary or fixed point
 Record events occurring at a scene
 Log includes time, place, and events
(2) moving or tailing
 Following the suspect
 Should only be done by professionals
(3) electronic surveillance
 Video camera
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Theft Act Investigative
Methods
Invigilation
Involves close supervision of suspects
during an examination period
Strict temporary controls are
implemented so that committing
fraud is almost impossible

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Theft Act Investigative
Methods
Physical Evidence
Involves analyzing objects such as:
 inventory, assets, and broken locks
 substances such as grease and fluids
 traces such as paints and stains
 impressions such as cutting marks, tire
tracks, and fingerprints or searching
computers

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Theft Act Investigative
Methods
Steps to Gather Electronic Evidence

Secure the device and perform initial tasks

Clone the device and calculate a CRC

checksum

Search the device manually

Search the device using automated

procedures 16

vice and perform initial tasks

Theft Act Investigative
Methods
E-mail Systems
Many copies may exist (sender, receiver, e-
mail server)
Includes text messaging in certain
countries
Web-based e-mail (Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo!
Mail) is more difficult to search

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Activity
19
Case Reading 1
A woman was killed in a “robbery”.

A man called 100 that his wife was

killed by a robber and he suffered
from 2 gunshot wounds (one at his
left arm and the other at his left
thigh) at 11 o’clock at night while
they were walking along the beach.
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21
22 General Crime Scene Procedure

Suppose you were the investigating officer

who would take charge of the crime
scene investigation upon receiving the
100call. What would be the general
crime scene procedure?

Explain the steps you would undertake for

the above question.
23 General Crime Scene Procedure

To assist/help/protect the victim if he/she is

still alive by carrying out first aid and/or
calling the ambulance;
To assess the crime scene;
To seal the crime scene – it helps preserve
important forensic evidence and identify
potential suspect(s)/witnesses by
eliminating the possibility of people leaving
or entering the crime scene before the
completion of the crime scene investigation;
24 General Crime Scene Procedure

To detain the potential witnesses and

suspects and remove them from the
crime scene to be questioned
separately or even searched by
police officers if necessary;
25 General Crime Scene Procedure

To identify the crime and categorize

the crime into burglary, robbery, arson,
murder, kidnap, sexual assault, etc.;
To document the crime scene-the
forensic photographers help record
the crime scene by means of cameras,
digital cameras and video cameras;
26 General Crime Scene Procedure

To search for evidence;

To do forensic analysis in the
laboratory;and
To reconstruct the crime scene (at a
later stage).
27 General Crime Scene Procedure

Questions
(a) Why do police officers usually
question potential suspects/witnesses
separately?
(b) It is suggested that it is not good to
collect too much or too little evidence.
Please justify.
Activity 1.1 General Crime Scene
28
Procedure
Suggested Answers
(a) To prevent the witnesses discussing
what they each saw and prevent
one’s recall of the incident being
influenced by the ideas of others
Activity
29 1.1 General Crime Scene
Procedure
Suggested Answers
(b) It is not cost effective to collect irrelevant
evidence. However, if we collect too little
evidence, some important forensic
evidence may be missing which in turn
would affect the crime investigation.
Experience in collecting forensic evidence
may help solve this problem. However, one
should always note that minor evidence
may contribute much to solve the crime
case.
30 Crime Scene Search

After crime scene documentation

(taking notes, videos and photos) is
completed, the crime scene is
searched for more physical evidence

There are some searching patterns

commonly used by the police:
List and draw diagrams of the search
patterns.
31 Remarks:

If necessary, the practical

application of the search
methods to a crime scene
may be a combination of
different methods.
32

Not to scale
33 (Secure a Crime Scene)

Suppose you were required to search the

above crime scene for any physical
evidence.
(a) How would you do the searching?
Explain why you choose such search
option.
(b) What important information is missing in
the given crime scene sketch?
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35
36
37
(Secure a Crime Scene)

Answer to (a)
 It depends on the environment, crime cases and manpower, etc.
Answer to (b)
 Missing elements are the time, description of the crime and the
measurements of the crime scene.
38 Collection of Forensic Evidence

(a) What information and /or forensic

evidence you would like to
obtain/collect for testing in the
forensic laboratory regarding this
crime case?
39 Suggested answer:
 Oral confession of the husband, local
residents at region I and passersby along
the Silverstrand Beach Road;
 Autopsy report; and
 Forensic evidence collected
fingerprint,
Weapon
Fingerprint (if present and developed)
footprint/shoeprint,
blood spatter pattern,
bullet from victims,
cartridge case,
DNA evidence).