Project_Investigative_Techniques

Project Investigative Techniques Amanda Cooper CJ210: Criminal Investigation Professor Rodney Leonard June 29, 2010 Basic techniques of criminal investigation for homicides are many. Investigators enter the scene without disturbing any evidence. They check the victim for signs of life and note their time of arrival. If the victim is living they get medical assistance, and if the victim is conscious, they ask them who hurt them, get a description, etc. If the victim is unconscious make sure an officer always stays with the victim. Make sure to take many photographs of the victim’s position before they are removed and obtain any physical evidence from the victim. Make sure the crime scene is blocked off and interview any people at the scene. Do not allow unauthorized people in the scene and take names and address of the people who are present. Collect and process the scene by taking photographs of all evidence and collecting the evidence to be examined as well. Video tape recordings are also useful to look back over a scene later. The different types of homicide are murder and manslaughter. Murder is when an individual kills with the intent of killing that person, while manslaughter is when an individual kills someone on accident, without intending to kill that person. The difference between homicide and suicide is that in homicide, a person kills another person either on accident or on purpose, while suicide is when a person takes their own life. A body can provide a lot of evidence to an investigator. Bodies can have trace evidence such as fibers, DNA, blood, weapon used, etc. The position of the body can show if the person was sitting, standing, kneeling, etc. when he or she died. The body temperature of the liver can tell the time of death, the level of rigor and decomposition can also give clues to how long the body has been dead as well. Modus Operandi is used to find clues to the perpetrator’s personality. It gives the investigator insight as to why the perpetrator committed the crime, how they did it, where they did it, why they choose a certain place, etc. It gives investigators an idea of the type of victims the perpetrator may target and any type of psychological issues the perpetrator may have gone through to make him or her do what they do. References Osterburg, J.W. & Ward, R.H. Criminal Investigation: Method for Reconstructing the Past, 5th Edition. Retrieved June 28, 2010.