Criminal investigation techniques and methods used in the investigation of violent crimes
Introduction to Violent crimes
Violent crimesare defined as a crime involving robbery with violence, aggravated assault, sexual assault and rape, and homicide. The techniques police apply in solving these cases are usually very straightforward. It is any activity used by police to gather information and evidence to identify and secure the arrest of the offender. These procedures and techniques are not limed to protecting the crime scene, collecting evidence, testing DNA, identifying witnesses, interrogating suspects, profiling, andconducting surveillance(Becker, 2018).
On July 2, 2015, an African-American male Nathaniel Wheeler was working in a construction site in 2700 Achentoroly Terrence Street in West Baltimore before he was shot multiple times in the chest. This shooting happened just two days after he celebrated his 31st birthday. Four days later, his killers, both 22 years old Kenyon Jackson and Davon Vinnie, were arrested and charged with the murder of Nathaniel Wheeler. It was not the first homicide case that week; on June 30, his brother Carlos had shot dead Ronnie Thomas in northeast Baltimore. Carlos was sentenced to life this spring. The homicide Police commander in West Baltimore said the investigators working on the case of Nathaniel Wheeler believe that the motive of the killing is tied to the Wheelers family (Justin, 2015).
Assessing the crime scene
The lead investigator conducts a full assessment of the scene to determine the nature of homicide and the level of investigative work required. The investigator shall then establish the complexity and the full scope of the scene and document the plan of the investigation.. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
As an investigator of a homicide case, it is vital to pay keen attention to every detail and record everything done or observed. In the preliminary report, record arrival time at the crime scene and the precise location of the scene. This report will include the weather and amount of lighting available, an interview of the first responding officer on the scene, other police officers, rescue team, and the duties that the officer conducted and documented. (Higginson, 2017).
Secondly, identify potential witnesses to get the right witnesses and arrange for their transportation and interviews, it is recommended to transport the witnesses separately so that they may not influence each other.
Examine the condition of the body of the victim and take pictures of the crime scene and the body as you verify the death. Control the scene and determine the extent the perimeter should extend to and call for assistance from the crime technicians to help collect material evidence and general processing of the scene(Becker, 2018).
Analyzing the crime scene
A crime scene is used to connect physical objects and victims to suspects and any other scene. Any evidence found in that crime scene or any different scene that will be used to link the offender to the crime will be referred to as associative evidence. It may include blood samples or any bodily fluids, weapons used to commit the crime, fingerprints, body hair, material fiber, clothes, and shoes. This associative evidence is used to identify the real offender. By analyzing the crime scene, investigators come up with reconstructive evidence that helps them relate to the actions of the offender at the scene. Broken physical items, amount of blood spilled and spatter pattern, shoe prints, location of bullet casings, and missing items are used to shed light on what might have been going on during the time the crime took place,which is used to understand how the crime happened. It is from the crime scene that the investigators collect known samples to be used as control samples they form trace evidence. It includes things like fingerprints, soil samples, and glass samples. Control samples help in Eliminating people who were in the crime scene but are not considered suspects is usually done by collecting samples of fingerprints and DNA samples (Bolz Jr, 2016).
Collecting or testing of physical evidence
Collection of physical evidence involves gathering all objects that can relate to the crime and can establish facts about the atrocity or links the crime, the victim to the offender, the victim to the scene, the offender to the weapon used and the offender to the scene or any other related scene. Investigators only use physical evidence used to solve a crime if it is found in the scene or any differentrelevant scene; hence its presence at the scene must be recorded and acknowledged by the investigating officers. Investigators also have the mandate of protecting all physical evidence before presenting to the laboratory technicians for analysis. Analysis of the evidence is very vital since investigators use it to tie the crime to the real offender (Higginson, 2017).
In solving murder cases, the investigators must collect all available physical evidence like nail scrapings, genital swabs clothing specimens, toxicology specimens, photos from forensic autopsies, and histology specimens. In homicide, there is a strong relationship between the autopsy report and the trace evidence like ballistics report and bullet that is found in the victim’s body (Walton, 2017).
Forensic fingerprint analysis
During the forensic analysis of gun homicide, fingerprints are used to tie the victim to the ballistic casings and the gun used to commit the crime. They are the unique identifier of every person; hence positive matches directly link the person to the crime (Becker, 2018).
Forensic Ballistic analysis.
Bullets can be matched to the gun used to commit the crime. By comparing the source of unknown cartridge casing bullet found in a victim’s body to the type of compatible guns, investigators seek to determine which weapon was used. Invigilators will narrow down the search to the suspects with that particular gun (Becker, 2018).
ForensicDNA analysis
When homicide police require DNA evidence to connect a suspect an ongoing case. The DNA samples from crime scenes and other locations should be first collected, analyzed, and results obtained. The investigator then seeks a court order to collect DNA samples from the suspect.
This procedure is sent to the forensic team to collect, analyze, and preserve that evidence, which may include blood or swabs. The DNA samples obtained at the crime scene are then analyses to remove all the groups of people who are nor connected with the crime, and the suspects’ list is narrowed down to those without an alibi. However, they are not cleared form the investigation (Becker, 2018).
Criminal profiling
Criminal profiling is a study of criminal psychology to develop the character of the most likely profile of the suspect who committed an offense. Once a criminal profile has been drawn, investigators can search for persons that match the social description and characteristics of the profiled suspect (Walton, 2017).
Forensic digital analysis
Investigators use available data on car registration, property ownership to match tie witnesses, and suspects to ongoing cases. Digital forensics isusually used to help in clearing homicide cases since e-data are easily assessable for police investigators (Higginson, 2017).
Questioning and interrogation
Once investigators find any evidence linking a suspect to a crime, that suspect is brought in for questioning even if the evidence is circumstantial. Suspect’s rights are not violated when investigators ask questions; the investigator is required to give the maximum suspect time and opportunity to disclose all the necessary information that will exclude that suspect from the investigations to the crime (Bolz Jr, 2016).
Once reasonable evidence has been established, and a suspect has been arrested, the interrogation process begins. Suspects are interrogated once the investigators have a reasonable belief that the evidence against the suspect is direct, it is done to force the suspected to plea to the crime committed (Walton, 2017),
Suspect handling
Homicide crime suspects should be handled with caution to prevent legal roadblocks from interfering with the prosecution of the case. During interrogation, ensure all rights are afforded to the suspect (Higginson, 2017).
Ensure the suspect does not return to the scone to prevent any change of clothes as it may contain evidence of the crime. Documents any conversation with the suspect by giving the suspect a written waiver of his or her rights and advise the suspect of his or her rights (Higginson, 2017)
Conclusion
This research outlined homicide criminal investigating techniques and procedures available for criminal investigators. The homicide investigator should pay keen attention to the method for the case to be solved and the offender to be apprehended.
Knowledge of the right forensic tools to be applied to get the required evidence is very critical, and it would provide evidence that was not possible to be obtained or used. The handling of a crime scene, evidence, suspects, and witnesses can deter or improve the chances of solving a homicide case. It is therefore crucial that an investigation officer plans the case right from taking over from the reporting officer to trial and every stipulated procedure and technique of handling homicide.
References
Higginson, A., Eggins, E., & Mazerolle, L. (2017). Police techniques for investigating seriousviolent crime: A systematic review. “Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice,” 539, 1-13.
Walton, R. H. (2017). Practical Cold Case Homicide Investigations Procedural Manual. CRC Press.
Carter, D. L., & Carter, J. G. (2016). Effective police homicide investigations: Evidence from seven cities with high clearance rates. Homicide Studies, 20(2), 150-176.
Bolz, Jr, F., Dudonis, K. J., & Schulz, D. P. (2016). The counterterrorism handbook: Tactics, procedures, and techniques. CRC Press.
Becker, R. F., & Dutelle, A. W. (2018). Criminal investigation. Jones & Bartlett Learning.