Interviews

Question 1

An interview is questioning people who are not suspects in a crime but know something about it or the people involved. Most cases are solved through good interviewing techniques. What are the techniques?

Answer 1

1. Someone who is lying will usually tell a story exactly the same way several times.
2. Repetition is the best way to obtain recall and to uncover lies.
3. A truthful story will contain the same facts but be phrased differently each time it is retold.

Question 2

Before interrogating any suspect, you must give the Miranda warning. Suspects must be informed of their right to remain silent, to have an attorney present and to have a state appointed attorney appointed if they cannot afford private counsel. What is needed to prove Miranda was given?

Answer 2

A wavier of rights should be accompanied by a written or witnessed oral statement that the waiver was voluntary.

Question 3

Interrogation techniques include directly or indirectly, forcing responses, deflating or inflating the ego, minimizing or maximizing the crime, projecting the blame or rationalizing and combining approaches. The inquiry, “What time did you and your wife leave the restaurant?” Is an example of what type inquiry?

Answer 3

Direct Inquiry

Question 4

A ________ is a legal narrative description of events related to a crime. It is more or less formal, exact, detailed presentation. It begins with an introduction that gives the place, time, date and names of the people conducting and present at the interview.

Answer 4

Statement.

Question 5

When evaluating and corroborating information you do what three things?

Answer 5

1. Do not accept information obtained from interviews and interrogations at face value.
2. Always verify your information.
3. Corroborate or disprove statements made during questioning.

Question 6

An investigator must constantly review and evaluate evidence when preparing a case for court. Videotapes are being used increasingly in court for many cases. Who is allowed to use videotapes for court presentations?

Answer 6

Expert witnesses with heavy time commitments may be allowed to testify by way of videotape.

Question 7

An obvious advantage of _________ is that they accurately represent the crime scene in court. They can be taken immediately and are highly effective visual aids that corroborate the facts presented.

Answer 7

Crime scene photography

Question 8

When photographing a crime scene, you should take sufficient photographs to reconstruct the entire scene. What are the normal succession of photographs?

Answer 8

1. Entrance point
2. Crime commission area
3. Exit point

Question 9

Like interviews, interrogations are conducted as soon as possible after the crime is committed. Most interrogations are conducted at police headquarters, however if a suspect refuses and there is insufficient evidence for an arrest, what location would be the best advantage to the investigator for an interview?

Answer 9

A unfamiliar place away from family and friends.

Question 10

Investigators use questions and repetition effectively and also know how to interview reluctant interviewees. No matter what particular technique or combination of techniques you select, you should follow what two basic requirements?

Answer 10

Listen and observe

Question 11

Often, investigators during the course of an interrogation may fabricate evidence, make promises, use the good cop/Bad cop routine misrepresenting the seriousness of the offense or misrepresenting identity such as posing as a cellmate. While it may not be public knowledge that police lie to suspects, the use of deception during an interrogation is considered to be;

Answer 11

Unethical

Question 12

Note taking is an acquired skill that every investigator should acquire. Notes should be brief, legible, abbreviated that others can understand. Which statement would an investigator likely use for recording a statement in his/her notebook?

Answer 12

Witness found Joe Smith shot inside the men’s room at 2:30pm at the LaBuca restaurant located 800 Locust Street.

Question 13

In addition to an accurate, complete, well structured narrative, an effective report exhibits several other characteristics. What are characteristics of effective reports?

Answer 13

1. Always write in the past tense throughout the report. Past tense shows events that already happened.
2. Use the third person when referring to yourself in the report. The report should list you as “This investigator/Officer”
3. Reports should be concise and avoid wordiness.

Question 14

Collecting, marking, and identifying evidence is one of the responsibilities of the investigator. How evidence is collected directly influences its later value. What are the best practices to collecting evidence? (3 ways)

Answer 14

1. Two officers are ideal for collecting evidence, one collects while the other records
2. Make the marking easily recognizable and as small as possible to reduce the possibility of destroying part of the evidence.
3. A pen is suitable for some objects but a stylus is used for more permanent mark that cannot be marked with a pen.

Question 15

A basic function of investigators is to conduct a thorough, legal search at the scene of a crime. What are crime scene search patterns?

Answer 15

1. Circle search pattern
2. Aerial search pattern
3. Zone or sector search pattern

Question 16

Some police departments use this piece of equipment extensively because of the definite advantage of recording exactly what was stated with no danger of misinterpreting, slanting or misquoting.

Answer 16

Video recorder

Question 17

To obtain a valid search warrant, officer must meet two critical requirements of the fourth amendment;

Answer 17

Establish the location is owned or controlled by the suspect and evidence is likely to be discovered on the promises.

Question 18

There are various ways a search can be conducted; search warrant, search following arrest, search in an emergency situation, and a search by consent. What can’t be done during a search?

Answer 18

Once consent is given voluntarily, the search may be conducted for the entire property

Question 19

The importance of physical evidence depends on its ability to establish that a crime was committed and to show how, when and by whom. Which type of evidence require a comparison to be of value as evidence?

Answer 19

Fingerprints

Question 20

What can figureprints establish in a criminal investigation?

Answer 20

Identity

Question 21

The crime scene is the area from which the majority of the physical evidence associated with the. Rome is obtained. It provides the investigating officers with a staring point for the investigation to determine the identities of the suspect and victim. What is considered the most important task of the first officer on the crime scene?

Answer 21

Prevent the destruction or the diminished usefulness of potential evidence that may lead to the apprehension of the criminal and the ultimate resolution of the crime.

Question 22

law enforcement personnel involved in a criminal investigation must be able to derive the maximum possible information from the crime scene. What are the objective s of a crime scene investigation?

Answer 22

1. Reconstruct the incident
2. Establish legal jurisdiction of the crime.
3. Determine the mode of operation

Question 23

The basic qualities of a good crime scene investigator are intuition and eye for what needs to be done. Before any actual work at the scene begins, the investigator should stand at a vantage point at the periphery and formulate a systematic plan. What consideration of the crime scene investigator when formulating a plan?

Answer 23

1. How the search is to be conducted
2. What need s to be photographed
3. Where are the possible clues

Question 24

What are the actual examination of the crime scene?

Answer 24

1. A crime scene investigation should not commence if it is obvious that specialized personnel need to take over the job.
2. If an outdoor scene must be searched at night it should be kept in tact as long as possible for a final search in daylight.
3. If an object is to be moved, it can be marked with chalk, pencil or crayon

Question 25

As a general rule firearms and ammunition should be left untouched until the investigating personnel arrive. However, recovery of weapons and ammunition may be necessary. In the event a pistol or revolver needs to be removed from a crime scene due to conditions, what is the proper way to pick up a weapon?

Answer 25

With two fingers, grasp the checkered surface of the grips.

Question 26

Following the initial crime scene search, photography, and sketching of the crime scene, physical evidence may be collected. It is useful to set priorities of which evidence to collect first. What is the proper order of collecting evidence?

Answer 26

blood & trace, fingerprints, firearms

Question 27

Of all the common types of evidence found at a crime scene, blood is perhaps the most fragile. The value of bloodstains for typing begins to diminish almost immediately. What are the best ways of collection and preservation of bloodstains?

Answer 27

1. The stability and utility of bloodstains varies from several days to months depending on the environment.
2. An air dried sample stored in a paper bag at room temperature or under refrigeration will retain its evidentiary usefulness for a significantly longer period of time.
3. Any type of preservation technique that hastens should be avoided.

Question 28

Footprints are a common type of impression evidence found at or near a crime scene. A footwear print may be a foot impression or a footprint. What cannot be determined by the gait pattern of a subject?

Answer 28

Whether the person is male or female

Question 29

This system is considered the single biggest advance in fingerprint technology. It has the ability to compare a latent fingerprint discovered at the crime scene with a criminal database.

Answer 29

Automated Fingerprint Identification Service (A.F.I.S)

Question 30

handwriting is another means of establishing identity. Like fingerprints, it offers that investigator the ability to conclusively establish the identity of an individual. Handwriting Examination are ?

Answer 30

1. Handwriting exemplars are known specimens from the suspect/victim that are important to contact the suspect or victim with the document.
2. Documents should not be altered in any way, they should not be folded or creased and the investigator should not write on them.
3. If chemical processing must be used to develop fingerprints. The document should be photographed first with documents scale present.