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• Criminal investigation is a process of collecting crime-related information to reach a certain goal.
• It involves how the prosecution and police formulate a case from beginning to end.

Steps and Goals of Criminal Investigation

• The steps involve collecting crime-related information and identifying goals.
• The goals are to establish if a crime has occurred, find those responsible, and create a case with proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Criminal Evidence

• Criminal Evidence is supposed knowledge related to a crime or a perpetrator, and may include witnesses and testimonies.
• The difference between criminal evidence and forensic science is that forensic science addresses legal questions, such as fingerprints or DNA evidence.

Problems with Evidence

• Relevance: Evidence may have nothing to do with connecting the perpetrators to the crime.
• Accuracy: Eyewitnesses may misidentify someone or misidentify fingerprints.
• Quality: Overwhelming amounts of evidence can sometimes mean there is no useful evidence at all.

Stages of Investigation

• Reactive stage: Involves the discovery of a crime and police response, including patrol officers as part of the initial response, and a preliminary investigation to gain initial information.
• Follow-up stage: Involves detectives and crime scene analysis, looking for evidence like bullet casings, CCTV, and blood stains, and then closure.

Case Screening

• Police taking a report doesn't guarantee the case will be assigned to a detective and followed up on.
• Police gather and decide which cases get assigned a detective.
• Cases like kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, rape, shootings, and stabbing are always assigned and are considered reactive cases.
• Cases like vehicle burglary are typically not assigned.
• Assignment depends on the solvability factor for detectives to pick up.

Proactive Cases

• Includes drugs, prostitution, undercover work, human trafficking, and terrorism.
• Proactive cases involve reaction before a crime has occurred.
• Reactive cases involve police responding after a criminal commits a crime.

Undercover Operations

• Includes police sting operations, stakeouts, surveillance, entrapment, sting operations, decoy operations, and undercover fencing operations.
• Stakeout involves police watching a particular place, remaining static and in place.
• Surveillance means following a certain person, is not illegal due to no expectation of privacy in public.
• Entrapment involves police causing someone to commit a crime when they were not predisposed to committing it.
• Sting Operation is described as an investigator posing as someone who wishes to buy or sell illicit goods (such as drugs or sex) or to execute some other sort of illicit transaction.
• Decoy Operation is a police strategy in which undercover police attempt to attract criminal behavior.
• Undercover fencing operation is a police strategy in which undercover police buy or sell stolen property.

Types of Mental Mistakes

• Probability errors: Coincidences are considered actual evidence.
• Tunnel vision involves investigators focusing on one person and disregarding others, even with evidence that disassembles their suspect.
• Immovable mindset: Refusal to believe anything else involving the suspect, even if evidence disproves their involvement.
• Confirmation bias: The tendency to pay attention only to evidence that supports already-existing beliefs.
• Overconfidence bias: Believing you are right and being unwilling to be convinced otherwise.
• Groupthink: When a group of people who work together think the same, share beliefs, think alike, and suppress diversity and differing opinions, leading to similar conclusions. A phenomenon whereby people in a group tend to interpret ideas and theories similarly and draw similar conclusions.

Criminal Justice System Components

• Police, courts, and corrections are the three components of the criminal justice system.

Components of Video

• Tunnel vision, probability error, and confirmation bias are factors.

CH.1 - Textbook Notes

• The process of collecting involves activities performed by patrol officers, detectives, or other investigators responsible for the investigation.
• A crime is cleared by arrest when at least one person has been arrested, charged with the commission of the offense, and turned over to the court for prosecution.

Goals of CI

• The ultimate goal is a reduction in crime through deterrence or incapacitation.
• Punishment must be administered either to the individual or to someone of whom they are aware to deter an individual from engaging in crime.

REACTIVE INVESTIGATION STAGES

• Initial discovery of the crime and the police response.
• Preliminary or initial investigation.
• Follow-up investigation.
• Closure.

Information theory suggests that the criminal investigation process is a battle between the police and the perpetrator over evidence of the crime.

• CI can be seen as a game, like a puzzle, and this involves the final picture not being known, some pieces missing, puzzle pieces needing to be located, and some pieces not really being part of the puzzle.
• CI can also be seen as a maze due to the time it takes to complete, either quick or long.

Qualities of Investigators

• Includes good judgment, stability, stamina, persistence, intelligence, initiative, ability to work on a team, involvement, dedication, and creativity.
• Motivation is viewed as one of the most crucial traits due to the autonomy or freedom investigators often enjoy in performing their work.
• Honesty and integrity are critical qualities, and cases can be lost when defense attorneys attack these qualities.
• Investigators should have a wide range of previous experience in law enforcement, solid street knowledge, knowledge of the law, excellent oral and written communication skills, and reading comprehension skills.
• The ability to read and write effectively is critical given the importance of reports in the investigative process.

Main Points

• Criminal investigation is the process of collecting crime-related information to reach certain goals: identifying and apprehending the perpetrator, providing evidence to support a conviction in court, and satisfying crime victims.
• Criminal evidence is crime-related information obtained as a result of investigative activities, used to establish that a crime occurred and that a particular person committed the crime.
• Three problems associated with evidence in investigations are that it may be unknown whether the evidence collected is relevant, the evidence may not be accurate, and there may be a lot of evidence to consider.
• Forensic science broadly refers to the field of science that addresses legal questions.
• Criminal investigations can be either reactive or proactive.
• The reactive criminal investigation process can be defined in terms of four stages: initial discovery of the crime, the preliminary or initial investigation, the follow-up investigation, and closure. The case screening process determines which cases receive a follow-up investigation. Undercover investigations involve the use of various strategies, including stings, decoys, fencing operations, stakeouts, and surveillance and may be controversial because of the possibility of entrapment.
• A criminal investigation can be thought of as a battle over crime-related information, as a game, as a puzzle, or as a maze.
• Chance, accident, and luck can play an important role.
• Investigators must be aware of and protect against mental errors or pitfalls when conducting investigations.
• Criminal investigations play a critical role in the criminal justice process, and if it is not successful, the rest of the criminal justice process is irrelevant.
• Many crimes, once reported, are not solved by the police and crimes like murders are more likely to be solved than motor vehicle thefts and burglaries.

Reasons Many Crimes are not Solved by Police

• Nature and structure of crimes.
• Police are typically acting in a reactive fashion.
• Police have to follow legal rules.
• Police have limited resources.
• Police may make mistakes.

CH 2:

• Parliamentary reward: Getting money for turning someone in or giving information.
• Informative: Providing information on things like gang activity, drugs, and crime.
• Motivation for this is less jail time, eliminating someone that's after them, getting paid, competition, protection, and immigration benefits.
• Thief taker: A person hired by the victim of the crime to obtain the stolen property and bring the criminal justice.
• Thief maker: A person who tricks people into committing crimes then turns them in for the parliamentary reward.
• The early remnants of the early investigation were the slave patrol, catching slaves that were escaping, using investigative tactics, and attempting to apprehend these slaves to return to owners.
• Rogues gallery: Collection of photographs for known criminals in the area, used to prove a lot of crimes and keep track of who criminals were.
• Drag net: Going out round people up and question which was a common tactic until the 1970's
• 3rd Degree: A brutal form of interrogation that involves physical harm.
• Bureau of investigation: Formerly prescient of the FBI.
• Private detectives: People hired their own detectives to solve their investigations and arrest people.

Reasons why Private Investigators Went Away

• Lower standards and experience.
• Only work for the wealthy, and private police department for the wealthy.
• Corruption.
• A prominent police detective agency is the Pinkertons, as they have been around for a while.

CH 3

• Judicial Evidence: Evidence that is presented in court to prove or disprove a fact.
• The goal as an investigator is to gain evidence that's admissible for court.

Common Rules of Evidence

• Prove certain facts and evidence must be legally obtained.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

• If a car is searched illegally without a warrant, the evidence found in that car does not count as evidence, as it's considered poisonous.
• Hearsay: If someone is told evidence and they proceed to call that as evidence.
• Brady Evidence: Evidence that hurts the prosecution's case.
• Extra judicial evidence: Evidence that's not admissible in court but it could be used to help an investigative team.
• Exculpatory: Evidence that excludes the person from the crime, such as an alibi or DNA.
• Inculpatory: Evidence that shows the suspect is the person from the crime, such as video evidence.
• The burden is always on the government and prosecution, and they lose if they don't prove the case.

Burden of Proof

• Puprancy of evidence needs 51% to be sure if the person's guilty with the lowest burden of proof.
• Reasonable suspicion: Stop and frisk 60% to be sure the person's guilty.
• Probable causes: To arrest somebody, To conduct a thorough search. 80% to be sure the person's guilty
• Beyond the reasonable doubt: Used in criminal trials, Convicted people of a crime.
• Different types of evidence. -Direct evidence. -It is fact, no need to assume it is a straight fact. -Includes confession and eyewitness testimony .
• Motive: A reason that would possibly explain why a suspect did something. Doesn't mean their guilty, but possible explanation to why they committed the crime.

CH 4

• Arrest: When an officer has probable cause to arrest someone that is suspected of a crime.
• Custody: Anytime someone is detained they are under custody( can go from minor inconveniences such as speeding to robbing a liquor store.
• The legal standard to obtain a search and issue warrant is probable cause.
• The 4th amendment states that the officer must have a warrant.
• Most arrests in this country happen without a warrant.
• Probable cause is the standard to conduct a search or arrest.
• In order to obtain warrant.
• Must have a probable cause from built up evidence in the case.
• Facts must be built up not false.
• Probable cause cannot be built of stale information (old info).
• Must be signed by a judge.
• A federal search warrant has to show that drugs or money have been present in that location 6 months ago before it is considered stale.
• In California law the time limit is 14 days.
• Probable cause must be determined by neutral and unattached state by a judge.
• The warrant must be served immediately.
• It's valid within 10 days or a practical amount of time and if it expires, you have to get a new one.
• Items in the warrant have to be seized or searched must be clearly identified.
• Warrant must describe it to the person in the degree of detail.

Affidavit

• Have to specifically state what you are looking for. If you find anything that illegal that's not stated In the warrant you can still charge them with what's be found. If you find other crimes happening while legally searching you can still charge them.

• Sworn in by the judge.

• Detailing the description of the search warrant is very important. If the wrong address or wrong person is put any evidence fund will be fruits of the poisonous tree and can be deemed invalid by the court.

• If the area happens to be country by county the officer is not required to tell suspects why their place is being searched.

• Stop and frisk is a reasonable suspicion.

• Exigent circumstance: Evidence can or is going to be destroyed, the crime is actively happening in the scene.

• Vehicle exception: A vehicle is an exception to needing a warrant to search a car as it's mobile and the law of the motor vehicle says otherwise.

• An officer can conduct a full search on a car if you have probable cause.

• For a mobile home, if the mobile home is being used as a vehicle it can be searched with probable cause, but if it is stationary or being used as a home the officer must use a warrant.

• Hot-pursuit exception: If and individual is actively being pursued and they run into their house, a warrant is not needed as long a good reason is in place. The officer is not allowed to search the rest of the house however, a warrant must be present at this point. However if they are apprehended, officer may search the area under their control.

Additional Points

• Plain-view exception: If an item is in plain view it can be deemed as admissible and grant police a search
• Consent exception: give consent for a officer to search. Valid consent must be voluntary and a written consent.
• Knock and talk search: Knock on the door and ask to come in and look around
• Knock and talk search: Knock on the door ask to come in and look around
• Exclusionary rule: evidence obtained by law enforcement but that evidence is illegally or unlawfully obtained, Allowing that certain piece of evidence to be excluded from the trial to be used against them in courtExceptions to this rule
• Good faith exception: The officer was trying to do the right thing but makes a minor mistake, Judge will rule it as good faith.
• The inevitable discovery exception: The cop messed us but not going to hold the rapist irresponsible as it the judge going to grant warrant either way
• Miranda: You have the right to not incriminate yourself, when be questioned. This has to happen in custody. Where they have to ask you about crimes they specifically looking for.
• Miranda only states one has that rights when in custody when being asked questions regarding the specific crime. Matt vs. Ohio, Miranda important case to learn