Ch 3 Investigations, Investigative Process And The Crime Scene Flashcards
Misdemeanor -
Lesser offenses that may be punishable by a fine, ordinarily not to exceed 500.00 and or imprisonment for no more than a year.
Felony -
Act punishable by imprisonment for a term of one or more years or by death.
Most important skill of an investigator :
In searching for the truth, the most important skill of an investigator is the ability to converse equally well with a wide range of people, from corporate executives to the homeless.
Inductive reasoning -
Uses factual situation of a case to form a unifying and logically consistent explanation of the crime.
Deductive reasoning -
Creates a hypothesis about the crime. Explanation is tested against the factual situation. If the fit is not good, the hypothesis is reformulated and tested again.
Once a criminal offense has been committed, three immediate outcomes are possible :
- Go undetected
- Be detected , but not reported
- Come to the attention of the police
Preliminary investigation -
Actions taken by the first officer to arrive at the scene of a crime.
Follow up investigation -
Police effort expanded after the initial incident report is completed until the case is ready for prosecution.
APB
All Points Bulletin
BOLO
Be On The Look Out
Neighborhood Canvass
Is an attempt to locate witnesses who may have heard, seen or smelled something of investigative importance.
Macroscopic scene
Large view, includes such things as the relevant locations, victims/suspects bodies, cars and buildings.
Microscopic scene
Consists of specific objects and pieces of evidence that are associated with the commission of the crime. Including knives, bite marks, hairs and fibers, shoe and tire impressions, cigar butts, blood, etc.
Three broad categories of evidence in which investigators have particular interest :
- corpus delicti - set of elements whose commission or omission must be demonstrated to have occurred in order to prove a case.
- associative - bidirectional in that it connects the perp to the scene or victim or connects the scene or victim to the suspect.
- tracing evidence - identification and location of the suspect are the goals of tracing evidence.
ALS -
Alternate Light Systems. Often used to locate trace evidence that is microscopic in size.
Five basic crime scene search pattern :
*Spiral- employed in outdoor scenes and normally executed by one person
*Strip/Line search- involves series of lanes down which one or more persons proceed. If multiple searchers are used, when evidence is found, all searchers stop until the evidence is properly recvd.
*Grid search- variation of the strip/line search. After completing the strip pattern, the searchers double back perpendicularly across the area being examined. More methodical and thorough examined from two different view points.
Zone/Quadrant search- requires that an area be divided into four quadrants.
Pie/Wheel search- dividing the area into a number of pie shaped sections. Usually six.
Three basic methods of documenting crime scenes:
Digital video recording
Digital still photography
Sketching (shows where evidence was located at the scene).
Forensic Mapping
Process of taking and recording the precise measurements of items of evidence to be drawn or fixed on the sketch.
Law enforcement classifies cases in two different ways :
- Cleared by exceptional means- police can demonstrate who committed the crime but for any reason cannot pursue the case further.
- Cleared by arrest - the perp has been arrested and there is sufficient evidence to file charges against him.
