Criminal Investigation

Criminal investigation is the branch of law enforcement that seeks to establish the facts of the case in question, identify the perpetrator of the crime, and bring the responsible party to justice. It is governed by specific, codified processes, which have similar characteristics regardless of the type of investigation being undertaken. Criminologists and law enforcement officials use numerous methods to classify the various types of investigations, but most can be categorized as reactive or proactive. Reactive criminal investigations are those that are launched after a crime has been reported, and proactive criminal investigations occur when authorities act on information regarding a crime that has not yet been committed.

History of Criminal Investigation

The origins of modern criminal investigation can be traced back to the agricultural and industrial revolutions of eighteenth-century Europe, when a rapidly changing economic landscape triggered a fundamental shift in the predominant structure of society. Improved agricultural techniques liberated a sizable section of the labor pool, and large numbers of people moved into emerging urban-based industrial and manufacturing jobs. The burgeoning population of European cities brought about an increase in crime, which led to the establishment of expanded municipal and regional police forces.

The 1829 passage of England's Metropolitan Police Act is considered a watershed moment in the history of criminal investigation, as it led to the creation of a centralized police force in London. Patrols were established, and within a few years, a distinction between uniformed crime prevention officers and plainclothes surveillance and investigation detectives emerged. Similarly structured police forces began to appear in major cities throughout Europe and North America during the first half of the nineteenth century.

In 1850, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency was founded, becoming the world's first private detective firm. The Pinkerton agency made extensive use of a number of groundbreaking techniques, including the classification of case information, the careful keeping of thorough records, and the use of publicity campaigns to encourage the assistance of civilians in identifying and locating criminals.

During the latter part of the nineteenth century, specialized criminal information bureaus began to surface in the United States. This marked a move toward a bureaucratized criminal investigation system, in which various law enforcement departments and agencies shared information. By the early years of the twentieth century, federal and local police agencies had largely taken their present-day forms. The Bureau of Investigation, precursor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was founded in 1908, marking one of the final foundational shifts in the American policing hierarchy.

Principles of Modern Criminal Investigation

The objectives of modern criminal investigation have not changed significantly since they first evolved during the nineteenth century; they aim to gather and evaluate the pertinent facts of a case, identify and investigate all possible suspects, rule out innocent parties, and build a case against the probable perpetrator of a crime with the goals of arrest and prosecution.

To this end, criminal probes follow a codified procedure known as a process of investigation. Both reactive and proactive investigations begin with an event called an instigation. A reactive investigation is generally instigated when a crime is reported or otherwise comes to the attention of the police, and a proactive investigation is usually instigated when intelligence assessments and analyses point to the high probability of a specific and identifiable future criminal event.

The initial investigation immediately follows the instigation stage. During the initial investigation, first responders and supervising officers must administer factors including crime scene management; the investigative interviewing of victims, witnesses, and suspects; and the preservation of important evidence. Further investigation may or may not be necessary.

Following the initial investigation, cases move into the suspect management stage. At this point, investigators seek to identify a suspect, given the known facts of the case as gathered through objective, reason-driven analysis. From here, the case moves into the evidential evaluation phase, during which investigators determine whether they have sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against a suspect. If they do, the suspect is charged and the case moves into the justice system; if they do not, the investigation reverts to the initial investigation/further investigation stage, and the process is repeated until charges are brought against a suspect, or case officers conclude that no suspect can be identified.

Officially, cases generally remain open, or the subject of active investigation, until the perpetrator of a crime is found guilty in court. However, if all leads have been exhausted and no new leads are forthcoming, cases can pass into what is informally known as a coldphase, in which the cases are considered open but do not attract the active efforts of law enforcement.

Specialized Types of Criminal Investigation

Criminal investigations can be complex, and as such, law enforcement officials sometimes need to draw on varied and highly advanced techniques to establish the facts of the case, analyze evidence, and identify possible suspects.

Profiling is generally used in cases involving a repeat offender who cannot be identified by investigators. Examples include unidentified serial killers whose crimes bear distinct patterns, allowing police to conclude that a single individual is responsible for multiple crimes, even though they may know little or nothing else about who that individual may be. Profiling is a psychological technique in which experts attempt to specify particular physical or personality traits of the unknown criminal based on the known facts of the case. It is built on the underlying premise that a criminal's actions grow directly from his or her personality, and thus attempts to build a detailed understanding of the criminal's personality. This helps detectives identify possible perpetrators from existing suspect pools, or from leads uncovered during subsequent investigation.

Criminal forensics focus on the advanced scientific evaluation of physical evidence collected from a crime scene. In some cases, important information about a crime cannot be readily detected from physical evidence without laboratory analysis. Forensics experts specialize in the advanced interpretation of evidence recovered from crime scenes, supporting the efforts of investigators who are trying to rule out specific scenarios regarding the crime.

Bibliography

Becker, Ronald F. Criminal Investigation. 4th ed., Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2013.

"Criminal Investigation." Encyclopaedia Britannica, 25 Oct. 2023, www.britannica.com/topic/criminal-investigation. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.

“Investigation: Investigation Process.” College of Policing, 28 May 2024, www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/investigations/investigation-process/. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.

Osterburg, James W., and Richard H. Ward. Criminal Investigation: A Method for Reconstructing the Past. 7th ed., Routledge, 2013.

Territo, Leonard, et al. Criminal Investigation. 11th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2011, pp. 1–16.

Winerman, Lea. “Criminal Profiling: The Reality behind the Myth.” Monitor on Psychology, vol. 35, 2004, p. 66., www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/criminal.aspx. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.