Criminal Investigation Techniques Quiz

Key Terms and Definitions

• INVESTIGATUS: Latin term meaning "to search or track."
• VESTIGIUM: Refers to a "footprint" or "trace," indicating something left behind as evidence.

Duties and Scope of Criminal Investigation

• Primary duty of a Criminal Investigator: To gather evidence and deduce facts related to criminal activities.
• Criminal Investigation addresses the examination and resolution of crimes to establish motives, means, and opportunities.
• Conducted by trained professionals who gather facts to resolve civil or criminal cases.

Investigation Techniques and Techniques in Interrogation

• Systematic examination of scientific detail often referred to as forensic analysis.
• Interrogation techniques include:
  • 'We know all' technique: Used to pressure suspects by suggesting that investigators have all the information.
  • Rapid fire technique: Involves asking rapid questions to create stress and compel a response.
  • Mutt and Jeff technique: Based on contrasting approaches, one aggressive and the other sympathetic, to confuse subjects.
  • Silent technique: Utilizes silence to create discomfort and encourage the subject to fill the void with information.
  • Futility technique: Involves implying that resistance is useless to persuade subjects to confess.
  • Change of scene: Employed to alter the environment and gather more information.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Investigators rely on sources such as police files, public records, and citizen tips to gather information.
• The most powerful weapon of investigators is the interrogation, which aims to elicit confessions or admissions.
• The police lineup serves to identify suspects by allowing witnesses to view potential perpetrators.
• Confidential informants play a crucial role by providing information to law enforcement discreetly.

Techniques Used in Interrogation

• Interrogation rooms must ensure key privacy to create a secure environment for questioning.
• Techniques involving kindness or friendship aim to lower defenses and encourage confession.
• Confession vs. Admission: A confession is an acknowledgment of guilt, while an admission may only acknowledge facts without accepting guilt.

Evidence and Documentation in Investigation

• Corroborative evidence supports confessions and strengthens the case against an accused individual.
• Evidence such as physical identifiers can link a suspect to a crime scene through personal belongings or forensic clues.
• Rough sketches at crime scenes outline initial observations and evidence layout, helping in the investigation process.
• Smooth/finish sketches are precise representations for official records and presentations.
• Floor Plans or Bird’s Eye view sketches visualize large areas with critical items and connections.
• Elevation sketches highlight vertical features of crime scenes, detailing items on walls, floors, and ceilings.
• Computer-aided crime scene sketching enhances accuracy and facilitates analysis and presentation of crime scene layouts.

General Sketching Guidelines

• A rough sketch should reflect measurements and placements of evidence clearly.
• Ground sketches provide an overview of physical circumstances at the scene.
• Elevation sketches are designed to detail spatial relationships of evidence within the vertical space.

These notes provide an overview of the key aspects related to criminal investigation methods, terminology, roles, and evidence management.