1. Describe in detail the 12 main solvability factors The redefining role of a police officer is to ensure that evidence support the continued investigation or case closure is collected at the earliest possible point in the investigation. This system serves as the foundation for the criminal investigation. When the police department uses the reporting system, there are two basic components, which both form the basis for an initial investigation. The first format is solvability factors, which is a format that logically guides the identification of any type of leads. Through experience and research, solvability factors have demonstrated results in a case solution. The second factor provides an opportunity for details of the investigation so far, so the follow-up plans do not duplicate any type of task that already has been completed. A police agencies reporting system should always indicate not only any solvability factors, but it should also show the investigative effort that was put in searching for any leads. An example would be if there were multiple witnesses in different locations, the report should inform where the search was conducted, who was contacted, and what was found. Without this type of description, the follow up investigator will not have a clear idea of where the patrol officer located the existing solvability factors and will only just end up duplicating their own efforts.
There are 12 essential questions that need to be answered unless if the patrol officer is able to make an on-scene arrest. the initial investigation, consists of the immediate post-crime activities of the patrol officer who arrives at the crime scene. The tasks of the patrol officer during the initial investigation are to arrest the culprit (if known and present), locate and interview witnesses, and collect and preserve other evidence.”The primary objective of the preliminary investigation is to determine who committed the crime and to apprehend the criminal”. PUBLICATIONS. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=84290. These primary factors could be slightly different in all agencies and could have different capabilities and procedures that could result in different solvability factors. The primary factors are as followed: Immediate availability of witnesses, Name(s) of the suspect, Information about the suspect’s location, Information about the suspect’s description, Information about the suspect’s identification, Information about the suspect’s vehicle and vehicle movement, Information about traceable property, Information about significant MO, Information about significant physical evidence, Discovery of useful physical evidence, Judgment by the patrol officer that there is sufficient information available to conclude that anyone other than the suspect could not have committed the crime, and finally Judgment by the patrol officer on case disposition. If the officer believes there is enough information available and with a reasonable investment of investigative effort the probability of the case solution is high, then the investigation should be continued.
2. Describe the four types of search patterns, as well as searches indoors, outdoors, vehicles searches, and nighttime crime scene searches
Regardless of the method used, the search of any scene should be conducted in a systematic way. The most often used methods of searching have been most commonly used for a very long time. The most common search patterns include the spiral search method, the grid search method, the strip-or line-search method, and the quadrant-or zone-search method. Some methods of searching are best suited for indoor scenes, and others are better suit for outdoor crime scenes. There are other scenes that present unique problems. Indoor crime scene searches always recommend that at least two officers do the search. The best way to accomplish this is maybe dividing the room in half for each officer, this is also known as the quadrant or zone search method. When the search is completed, the officers switch zones and search twice just Incase anything was missed the first time. The second type of search pattern is the outdoor crime scene search which is most cases and covers a broader area than most indoor searches. Usually when the search area is big, more officers and investigators are brought out to search and with an increase in size of the scene, a more systematic searching method is used. An example would be each officer can get about 6 square feet for a specific search area and then each officer would double check another area just like how they would in the zone search method, but this is considered the grid search method. “A grid search is an effective way to search an exterior scene or an intricate interior one. This is due to the fact that this type of search pattern covers almost every inch of the crime scene. Investigators will begin in one direction, then search from another direction – crossing over some of the area already searched.” Investigators: Does your search pattern fit the crime scene? (2015, September 24). Nighttime crime scene searches are the third search pattern. Officers should wait until daytime to search a crime scene, but circumstances may require officers to search at night. Other events that would be considered nighttime searching would be inclement weather to any other emergency circumstances. The final search pattern is a vehicle search, which is similar to indoor and outdoor searches, but in a car. Zones set to be searched for a car could be for the interior or exterior of the car. The car should be searched for fingerprints and should be done after other trace evidence has been sought.
3. Identify the proper information to be contained in the police report and why these items are of importance.
A police report represents the final product of the investigative efforts. The report will cover what happened and will provide permanent record useful in a trial setting, intelligence information, and crime analysis data. It extremely important for a report to be written in a way that it could be understood. Many officers write poorly prepared notes that can be easily evident when an officer is trying to read another officers report and is trying to interpret what the other officer is trying to say. If a report is hard to understand, the complaint issuing process will be difficult for a prosecutor to understand the facts and circumstances in a case. Also a poorly written police report can give a defense attorney ammo during a trial. Investigators know that an official police report is very important of the criminal prosecution process. The police report needs to be accurate and it needs to be given dates, times, and other details of the investigation. Everything that is written in the report must be written in such a manner that the reader of the report can easily understand everything.Anything learned during the investigation should also be included in the official report. This is necessary for the report to be considered complete and also for the credibility of the investigation. The report should also reflect the chain of custody of all evidence in the case. An example would be if guns were collected during an investigation, the report should reflect how the guns were collected, who handled them after the seizure, when and how they were stored, and who now how possession of them.
Whoever is making the investigative report must be aware that excess information can milk down the report and could confuse whoever is reading it. The best type of report is one that needs to be thorough and concise. The report should also be accurate and objective; the investigator needs to be able to distinguish between facts and hearsay and should be able to relate to factual accounts of the incident. When writing the narrative section, the officer needs to be concerned with two basic items presentation and dictation. The most difficult aspect of writing well is the proper choice and use of words. The best way of using your words in a report is by making the presentation in chronological order in which when the events occured from the officers perspective. Also, avoid the use of unnecessary words. It is also always good to have someone else proofread the report. “The best way to proofread a report is to give it to somebody else to read. It is always better to have fresh eyes look for mistakes. Encourage them to point out anything that looks wrong or sounds awkward. Then read it yourself and see if you can improve it. One of the best features of a word processor is that mistakes are easily corrected, without having to type the whole thing over.” 10 steps to improve your written police reports. (2000, October 20).
4. Explain in detail why the use of DNA was important in the Narborough murders. In the English village of Narborough in November 1983, a 15 year old girl was found murdered and had a big impact on international criminal investigations. This case took four years to complete and before the case was solved a scientific discovery was applied that not only solved a double homicide, but revolutionized forensic identification which was the mapping of DNA fragments. The death of Lynda Mann was one of the biggest homicide investigations in English history. There was a squad of 150 detectives formed that exhausted every lead in the case. As thorough as the investigation was, there was never a murder suspect arrest. In July of 1986, another 15 year old girl, Dawn Ashworth was found raped and strangled to death. It was indicated that this death was the same killer and that this was possibly a serial killer. So this time around, more than 200 investigators from around the country were placed on the case. Even with all these investigators on the case, they were still having trouble finding who was the killer. Word of the killings got out to the public and a 17 year old boy was linked to the murder due to evidence and was arrested. During interrogation, the suspect did admit to the killing of the second murder, but denied the first murder.
Leicester University scientist, Alec J. Jeffreys was in the midst of working in the field of genetic research in early 1980s and had recently discovered the process of human identification based on DNA molecule. “Thanks to the research by Jeffreys, thousands of dangerous criminals have been caught and imprisoned and thousands of individuals unfairly denied UK citizenship have been allowed to settle in this country.” McKie, R. (2009, May 23). Eureka moment that led to the discovery of DNA fingerprinting. For the Narborough murders, Jeffery was able to analyze semen samples from the body of Lynda Mann and also sampled from the Dawn Ashworth scene. The DNA he collected matched for both murders; he compared the DNA from the suspects blood. The suspects DNA failed to match up with either murder, including the murder the suspect confessed to, so the suspect was released from custody. One thing for certain was that the same person killed both teenagers. Long story short, in 1987, all males 17-40 years of age were asked to submit blood samples in the village. 4500 samples were examined and an arrest was made and this was based solely DNA fingerprinting.
5. discuss in detail all of the dynamics involving a physical lineup, including preparation and statements.
Police officers who do a lineup must use caution to avoid suggestive influences. Studies have shown that when police officers do a lineup, witnesses tend to believe that whoever is guilty will be one of the individuals in the lineup. Unfortunately, witnesses tend to pick the wrong person who looks identical who closely resembles the perception of the perpetrator, even if the perpetrator is not in the lineup. Sometimes, the witnesses may feel obligated by the police officers and may just pick a suspect to please the officers. It is also important that officers conduct the lineup in a non suggestive manner, so that witnesses are not influenced by any potential clues that could be conveyed by the officers. “An officer may say something to the witness that makes a particular suspect stand out. Sometimes the police officer’s comments and gestures are not even intentional. The police officer may not be aware of the subtle cues he is giving off while in the room with the witness”. How to Prevent Police Officers from Influencing Witnesses. (2016, January 27).
Preparing for a lineup is just as important as conducting the procedure. The selection process for the lineup is an important issue. When trying to pick out who will be in the line up, there are principles that should be followed: The lineup should consist of individuals of similar physical characteristics. The suspects need to be similar in height, age, weight, hair color, facial hair, clothing, glasses, and of course gender. Another principle that should be followed is that the lineup should consist of at least five to six people. The smaller the lineup, the less objective it would be for the witness. Officers should avoid any type of interactions with the witness during the lineup and viewing. Officers should try to prevent themselves from showing witnesses any type of photos of the suspect, allowing the witness to see the suspect before the lineup, and also making suggestive statements to the witness. Statements to the witness could make them anxious and feel forced to pick someone. Statements could also cause the witness to focus on a particular individual. Also the lineup should be presented to on witness at a time. Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court disapprove multiple-witness lineups. If possible, doing a blank lineup, which includes two lineups; one with the suspect and one without. This could help the prosecution in altering refuting any claim by the defense that the lineup was to small or too suggestive. Also, if multiple lineups are to be conducted for the same witnesses, do not put the suspect in more than one. Seeing the same face twice could make the witness believe that they recognize them and make the witness pick them solely because the face is familiar from the first lineup.
6. Describe in detail the circumstances under which an officer is authorized to use force against a suspect.
Under department guidelines, officers are required to exercise the minimum amount of force necessary to control a suspect. The Christopher Commision set forth guidelines that identify levels of force and the permissible use of force techniques within each level: social control (uniform presence), verbal control, weapon less control techniques (including pressure or pain holds), starting at “hands-on” with no pain, stunning (diffused impact with soft striking surfaces), and mechanical (skeletal), electronic control weapons, chemical agents, control instruments (equivalent to weapon less pressure or pain holds), impact weapons (equivalent to weapon less mechanical modes), and firearms (and other means of force that could cause death or serious bodily damage when used). It is always important to consider these guidelines in determining the various levels of force, but it is also important to consider basic operational tactics that apply for police officers regarding the use of force. A baton or a flashlight is commonly used as a weapon for force, but it is not designed for this type of use. Officers should constantly consider their options when approaching what they perceive to be a dangerous situation, but if the need to use force becomes a reality, proper application of force will be available quickly. “cops are given lot of legal latitude to use force without fear of punishment. The intention behind these legal standards is to give police officers leeway to make split-second decisions to protect themselves and bystanders. And although critics argue that these legal standards give law enforcement a license to kill innocent or unarmed people, police officers say they are essential to their safety”. Lopez. (2015, June 15). Police can use deadly force if they merely perceive a threat.
When it comes down to the use of deadly force, police officers are legally authorized to use deadly force under certain circumstances. Usually, a result of deadly force result from situations in which a suspect is fleeing the police, assaulting someone, or attempting to use lethal force against another person which would also include a police officer. If the officer who is committing the deadly force is doing so improperly or illegal, may be held responsible for criminal liability, and bothe the officer and the department can have a civil lawsuit placed against them. Most rules that come along with deadly force come from federal statutes and case law and are also concerned with the use of deadly force to arrest fleeing felons engaged in nonviolent felonies. These type of cases are different from suspects that commit violent crimes, such as murder, assault, rape, robbery and other types of behaviors that could represent a high risk of bodily harm or even death.
7. Explain in detail the differences between an interview and an interrogation. Give examples of each. A confession is defined as a “criminal suspect’s oral or written acknowledgment of guilt, often includes details about the crime” and a coerced confession is usually a confession that is obtained by police officers with the use of threats or force. Police are trained to force a confession. Investigators need to make a distinction between the two processes of interviewing and interrogating. So the big difference between an interview is that it's a way for the police to determine which people might be a good witness or a suspect. Victims also get interviewed to get information needed to proceed with an investigation. An interview is basically a non-accusatory question and answer session either with a police officer or an investigator. Police and investigators do this method to make a judgement about a suspect's credibility. If there are questions that need to be further evaluated then they will be investigated in nature, but will not be accused. Now an interrogation, is a technique of getting the truth from a suspect. Police will determine in an interview if a suspect is lying, so an interrogation is used to present a description of the crime in a way that the person who is being interrogated tell the truth. Evidence based arguments that are logical or provide rationale are also used to encourage truth from the suspect. When a suspect is being interrogated shows signs of willing to cooperate, then that’s when the questioning process begins. If a subject clarifies a single fact for the case being investigated, then the interrogation has led towards an admission.
It is important to be able to tell the difference between an interview and an interrogation because an interview discloses information that can expose lies while an interrogation is helpful for exposing the truth. Exposing the truth though depends on the gathering of correct and sufficient information. “Technically, an investigative interview is a non-accusatory fact-gathering conversation to determine facts, sequences of events, alibis, or to confirm information with a specific interviewee. The questions are generally open-ended, and your interviewee does most of the talking. If close-ended questions are asked, you are usually trying to clearly establish certain facts or to confirm important details.” Scce. (2016, August 11). An Investigator's Tools – Investigative Interviews vs. Interrogations. Open ended questions play a big role in both the investigative interview and interrogations, as it opens more doors for new questions and discoveries.
8. Explain in detail what Flowcharting is and explain the differences between event and commodity flow analysis. Flowcharting is a technique used for data description and integration phase. Flow Charts demonstrate a chain of events or actives over a long period of time. There are usually two types of flow charts that are useful in the criminal intelligence collection and they are the event flow analysis and the commodity flow analysis. Both of these type of analysis give investigators a graphic display of a series of events that might be too complex if read in a report. There really isn’t any rules to constructing a flowchart, so the analyst making the chart should try and maintain a degree of consistency throughout the chart regarding the symbols used. “Event flow charting, unlike link diagramming, allows for the display of a dynamic process which involves movement either over time or through a system. Like link diagrams, however, flow charts must be interpreted in order to have clear meaning. Commodity flow charting seeks to portray the movement of a tangible item through a system. The item may be money, narcotics, guns, stolen goods, or any other commodity of interest”. PUBLICATIONS. (n.d.).
The event flow analysis is done at the early stages of an investigation. An example would be charting a brief description of an event enclosed in a symbolic area such as a circle or rectangle. When different events get documented, they get connected through arrows and indicate the direction of the sequence. The following example I will provide will show how a reliable informant can best be portrayed by using the event flow chart. A small local business owner has 3 small stores in his local community. On one night, one of his restaurants get burned down; the second night his second store gets vandalized and on the same night, his third store gets bombed. Although the store owner doesn’t know for sure who the perpetrator could be, he may have an idea. He recently fired an employee who threatened him as he left the property. All the incidents occurred one week after the firing. Commodity flow analysis just simplifies the investigation by charting logical flow of such commodities as drugs, money, and guns. The structure of a commodity flowchart is the same as the event flow chart except that rather than descriptions of events being placed in circles or rectangles, people or businesses are used. Basically a commodity flow chart becomes more detailed in specifics and could take a long time to complete.
9. Describe the type of citizen that becomes an informant and what their motivation usually is.
Informants can be anyone in a community, a good investigator can consider anyone whom they feel as though comes in contact as a potential source of criminal investigation. That being said, the informant needs to have the premise of locating an informant who is aware of various crimes that have been committed. Therefore it is the investigators responsibility to find such people and build a relationship with them. These people who can become informants can be classified into four different groups: the average citizens, any fellow law enforcement officers, a mentally ill person, and last but not least, criminals or their associates. Not necessarily a criminal source, an average citizen who falls into this group may still be an excellent source for information. Most of the time though, an average citizen needs their identity protected from public. “Police gain information and leads from these informants that they may not be able to learn from other sources. If police reveal the identity of an informant, they may not get any more information from that person, and others may be afraid to serve as informants. Given the importance of CIs, courts have granted them privilege, which means that they don’t have to be disclosed in the same way as other witnesses”. Kelly, A. (2015, August 13). Learning the Identity of a Confidential Informant. Most average citizens can be a different range of people such as waitresses, bartenders, dancers, private investigators, and the list goes on.
Usually, officers and investigators exchange information with colleagues. Most of the time, this just information between friends or associates, but a good amount of it can be considered valuable information towards a case, which in return can make a fellow law enforcement officer an informant.Unfortunately, there is a percentage of informants who will fall into the category of mentally ill or deranged. A good investigator will be able to tell if someone is lying or basically gossiping about the information that they are passing along. Even though an informant may be mentally ill, a good investigator will still take their information with consideration because chances are, it might hold some validity. Last, but not least are the criminal informants, or their associates. Criminal informants tend to be the most valuable for many investigations. Reasons being is because theses are people who are currently, or have been, involved with a criminal element and are in excellent position to give up firsthand information about criminal activity. These informants are diverse group of people who come from all types of backgrounds and can view their roles differently from one another. Most of the time these criminal informants only give out information with the confirmation that their identity stay concealed simply for their protection. If their true identity was to ever come to light, their functions as an informant will come to an end, not by the investigators, but from whoever or whatever they are giving up information about and this will ruin any chances of trying to solve a case.
10. Explain in detail the role and dynamics of the Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime
In 1981, FBI agent Robert K. Reseller had a conversation with then Quantico Director Jim McKenzie about forming the National Center for the Analysis for Violent Crime (NCAVC) in which he agreed on and conceived of the program. The main goal of NCAVC is to coordinate investigative and operational support functions, criminological research, and training in order to provide assistance to federal, state, local, and foreign law enforcement agencies investigating unusual or repetitive violent crimes or serial crimes. The organization also provides investigative support through expertise and consultation in nonviolent matters such as national security, corruption, and any type of white collar crime investigations. “Ever since the introduction of the VICAP system, a local police department anywhere in the U.S. or Canada can fill out a request form and submit it to the NCAVC for analysis of a series of unsolved murders, people missing under suspicious circumstances or unidentified human bodies. The VICAP data is then entered into the Profiler computer system”. The Birth of Modern Day Criminal Profiling. (n.d.).
The Violent Criminal Apprehension Program also known as simply ViCAP is a system that the NCAVC uses to investigate strategies to combat serial and violent crimes. The system that they use is call PROFILER, which is basically a robot, rule based expert system programmed to profile serial criminals. Criminal Investigation Analysis Program (CIAP) is another program designed to investigate serial crimes. These programs are intriguingly interesting to me simply because of the artificial intelligence involved that goes into solving crimes. Basically these programs work by identifying and linking signature aspects in violent serial crimes. The signature of a crime is usually the intrinsic part of a crime that the criminal includes in order to satisfy what they have done and is usually present in every crime committed by the same person. The FBI is mandated to have a NCAVC coordinator also know as a “profiling coordinator”. These coordinators can act like liaisons to local police departments. Cases that would involve NCAVC services are disappearances of children, serial murders, single homicides, serial rapes, extortions, threats, kidnappings, product tampering, arsons and bombings, weapons of mass destruction, public corruption, and domestic and international terrorism. The system is constantly updated so that every time the NCAVC research team learns something new about any type of behavior of serial offenders, the information is then programmed into PROFILER, in the form of a new line of reasoning. PROFILER is a tool, not a substitute for human analysis. It uses logic and statistics to arrive at human-like conclusions quickly and create a profile by sorting through the millions of possible if-then combinations which I believe will become more advanced in the future as technology keeps advancing.
Work Cited
PUBLICATIONS. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=84290
Investigators: Does your search pattern fit the crime scene? (2015, September 24). https://www.policeone.com/investigations/articles/9508297-Investigators-Does-your-search-pattern-fit-the-crime-scene/
10 steps to improve your written police reports. (2000, October 20). https://www.policeone.com/police-training/articles/44385-10-steps-to-improve-your-written-police-reports/
McKie, R. (2009, May 23). Eureka moment that led to the discovery of DNA fingerprinting. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/may/24/dna-fingerprinting-alec-jeffreys
How to Prevent Police Officers from Influencing Witnesses. (2016, January 27). https://www.nysdwi.com/how-to-prevent-police-officers-from-influencing-witnesses-during-police-lineups/
Lopez. (2015, June 15). Police can use deadly force if they merely perceive a threat. https://www.vox.com/cards/police-brutality-shootings-us/police-deadly-force-perceived-threat
Scce. (2016, August 11). An Investigator's Tools – Investigative Interviews vs. Interrogations. http://complianceandethics.org/investigators-tools-investigative-interviews-vs-interrogations/
PUBLICATIONS. (n.d.). https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=74219
Kelly, A. (2015, August 13). Learning the Identity of a Confidential Informant. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/learning-the-identity-confidential-informant.html
The Birth of Modern Day Criminal Profiling. (n.d.). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201505/the-birth-modern-day-criminal-profiling