Criminal Investigation: An Overview

1. Criminal Investigation: An Overview Chapter 1

2. Criminal Investigation Defined The process of discovering, collecting, preparing, identifying, and presenting evidence to determine what happened and who is responsible.

3. Specific Definitions Crime: an act in violation of penal law and an offense against the state Ordinance: an act of a legislative body relating to all the rules governing the municipality/county Misdemeanor: crime punishable by up to one year in state prison Felony: serious crime punishable by death or imprisonment more than one year Criminal Statute: legislative act relating to a crime and its punishment

4. Crimes fall into two categories:felony and misdemeanor Elements (conditions) of a crime must occur for an act to be a specific crime. Referred to as corpus delicti are those things that the prosecution must prove. Crimes must have either an element of criminal intent or negligence. Modus Operandi (MO) is the “method of operation” or how the criminal operates.

5. Goals of a Criminal Investigation Determine whether a crime has been committed or not versus civil actions. Identify the person(s) liable through information and evidence. Arrest the suspect. Recover stolen property/contraband. Key issue: Present the best case to prosecutor.

6. Functions of the Investigator Provide emergency assistance. Secure the scene. Photograph, videotape, and sketch. Take notes and write report. Search for, obtain, and process physical evidence. Obtain information from witnesses and suspects. Identify suspects. Conduct raids, surveillances, stakeout, and undercover assignments. Testify in court.

7. Criminal Investigations—Historic Advances Hans Gross: first book on Criminal Investigation (1893) Alphonse Bertillon: father of personal identification (late 1800s) Edward Henry: developed fingerprinting classification system (1900) Dr. Karl Landsteiner: human blood typing (1909) Dr. Edmond Locard: “exchange principle” or “transfer of evidence” (1910) Calvin Goddard: firearms identification and bullet comparison (1920s)

8. Dr. Victor Balthazard published classic article on firearms identification (1913) Calvin Goddard raised firearms identification to a science and perfected the bullet comparison microscope (1920s) August Vollmer established the first full forensic laboratory in Los Angeles (1923) James Watson and Francis Crick identified the structure of DNA (1950s) Note: DNA had been initially isolated by the Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher (1868)

9. Herman Goldstein’s Problem-Oriented Policing published (1979) Alec Jeffreys discovered the parts of the DNA structure that were unique in each person making positive identification possible (1985) First use of DNA typing in a criminal case in England: DNA was used to clear a suspect in a murder and the guilty suspect was convicted (1986) First use of DNA typing in a criminal case in the United States, in which a criminal was identified by DNA (Florida v. Tommy Lee Andrews, 1988) CompStat developed in New York (1994)

10. First Responders • The actions of the first responder to the crime scene are crucially important to the success of an investigation • Why? • Preserving and protecting the crime scene is a critical component of any criminal investigation

11. Critical Role—First responders Suspect may still be nearby and dangerous or about to flee. Provide emergency care for the injured First aid, paramedics, etc., may destroy evidence. Locate witnesses at the scene. Hear declaration from a dying person. Immediately preserve the crime scene. Fragile evidence may be destroyed because of weather. Prevent individuals from attempting to alter the crime scene.

12. Professor Edmond Locard “Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value.”Dr. Edmond Locard(France, 1877–1966)

13. The Preliminary Investigation Observe situation: people, positions, vehicles, potential suspects, witnesses, or other victims. Find out, “What happened here?” Identify and question victims, witnesses, suspects—have them write their statements out. Ensure a neighborhood canvass is conducted. Measure, videotape, photograph, sketch scene. Search for evidence—using search techniques. Identify, collect, process, package evidence. Record observations and statements in notes.

14. The CSI Effect • The exaggerated depiction of how television forensic science operates, creating a phenomenon in which the public have unrealistic expectations of the police and prosecutors in a criminal case

15. Solving Crime…whose job is it? • It must be a cooperative, coordinated departmental effort with help from the public. • The ultimate responsibility of solving crimes lies with all police personnel.

16. Problem-Oriented Policing Between community-oriented policing and problem-oriented policing, a true partnership of law enforcement and communities can occur to solve or deter crime.

17. Community Policing A philosophy that emphasizes the importance of the police and the public working together to accomplish what neither can accomplish working alone In 1829, Sir Robert Peel stated that “…the police are the public and the public are the police.” Metropolitan Police Act of 1829

18. Resources Office of Community Policing Services (COPS) http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/ Center for Problem Oriented Policing (POP) http://www.popcenter.org/ History of DNAhttp://www.dna.gov/basics/analysishistory/