FUNDAMENTALS OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

MODULE 1 - HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Objectives : 1. At the end of this module students will know the historical background of

criminal Investigation. and;

2. To know the fundamentals of criminal investigation.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION:

 2100 B.C. – As civilization developed, social and cultural traditions were

codified into formal laws. The Code of Hammurabi was thn implemented to
detect those ho refused to obey the law. It imposes the LEX TALIONES
principles where punishment of an offender is equal to what he did. It is known
to the principles for “An eye for an eye, A tooth for a tooth”.

 5th Century - B.C. Rome created the first specialized investigative unit. It was
name as QUESTOR/TRACKERS/MURDERERS due to their cruel treatment to
suspects in investigating crimes.

 6th Century B.C. - Unpaid magistrate (Judge) were appointed by citizens to

make decisions for the cases presented to them.

 9th Century - England King Alfred the Great, established a system of mutual
pledge (social control) which organized for the security of the country into
several levels.

 Ten Tithing - One hundred persons were group into one under the charged of
high constable. Hue and cry is employed. The constable who is considered the
first form of English police deals with more serious breaches of the law.
  Tithing - ten persons are grouped together to protect one another and to
assume responsibility for the acts of the groups members.

 Shires - the combination of hundreds within a specific geographic area

were put into the control of the king and were governed by Shire-reeve.

AT ABOUT THE TIME OF CHRIST:

1. Praetorian guard - this was considered the first police officers, their job is to protect the
palace and the emperor.

2. Praefectus urbi - their functions is to protect the city. They have both executive and
judicial power.

3. Vigiles of Rome - began as firefighters, they were eventually also given law
enforcement responsibilities. They were considered quitebrutal and it is from them that the
word VIGILANTE came from.

INVESTIGATION - an inquiry, judicial or otherwise for the discovery and collection of facts concerning

matters involved ;

= it is the process of inquiring, eliciting, soliciting and getting vital information, facts,

circumstances in order to establish the truth.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR - A public safety officer who is tasked to conduct the investigation of all
criminal cases as provided for and embodied under the Revised Penal Coce, criminal laws, and social
laws which are criminal in nature, = a well trained, disciplined and experienced professional in the
field of criminal investigation.
CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION - Investigation conducted by law enforcement officers after a person has
been arrested or deprived of his freedom of action.

EYE WITNESS TESTIMONY - The narration of facts by the person who really witnessed how the crime
was committed by the suspect to the victim or to the property stolen or taken.

CIRCUMTANCIAL EVIDENCE - (INDIRECT EVIDENCE) Chronology of events, which tends to established a

facts. It does not conclusively established a disputed fact but merely creates an inference
(notion/idea) or presumption of its existence.

ASSOCIATE EVIDENCE OR CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE = Is additional evidence of different

character to same point (in issue)

CHAIN OF CUSTODY = a process by which evidence collected is handed, transferred and accounted
for from the time of discovery until the disposition of the case.

NEIGHBORHOOD INVESTIGATION = One of the most crucial steps in kidnap for ransom cases which is
often overlooked. The objective is to identify and interview in person all individuals in the area where
the victim was kidnapped or last known sighting area during the window of opportunity or last time
seen until the time discovered missing.

CRIME SCENE - a venue or place where the alleged crime, incident, event has been committed.

CORPUS DELICTI - (Latin for the body of crime) used to described the physical or material evidence
that a crime has been committed. (example: corpse of a murder victim).

CONFESSION - is an express acknowledgement by the accused in a criminal prosecution of the

truth of his guilt as to the offense charge.

ADMISSION - referes to the statement of facts not directly constituting an acknowledgement of

guilt.

MIRANDA VS ARIZONA = Ernesto Miranda had confessed to rape and kidnapping, after two hour
interrogation, because the interrogator failed to inform Miranda of his right to counsel and remain
silent, his conviction was overturned.

WATERBOARDING = refers to the practice of strapping a suspect to a board with his/her head
lowered than the face is covered and water is poured over, it causing the suspect to gag and experience
the sensation of drowning.
CHINESE WATER TORTURE = interrogation technique repeatedly dripping water on the forehead of
the suspect. The goal is to drive the suspect to near insanity thereby obtaining a confession.

SERIAL KILLER - is someone who murders 3 or more people with “cooling off” periods in between.

ALLAN PINKERTON - a Scottish American detective who created the Pinkerton National Detective
Agency, the first detective agency in the U.S. He foiled a plot to assassinate President Lincoln.

WESTON AND WELLS - defined criminal investigation as lawful search for people and things useful in
reconstructing the circumstances of an illegal act or omission and the state accompanying it

ROUGES GALLERY = is a police collection pictures or photographs of criminals and suspects kept
for identification purposes/ A compilation of description, methods of operation having places
and names of criminal and their associates.

MUG SHOT - is a photographic portrait taken after one is arrested.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION:

It is the collection of facts in order to accomplish the three (3) fold aims

3 = FOLD AIMS

1. To identify the guilty party

2. To locate the guilty party
3. To provide evidence of his guilt

2 KINDS OF INFORMATION

1. Regular sources (example – citizen, company records)

2. Cultivated sources (example – paid informer)

6 – CARDINAL POINTS OF INVESTIGATION

 1. What specific offense was committed?
2. How the offense was committed?
3. Who committed it?
4. Where the offense was committed?
5. When it was committed?
6. Why it was committed

TYPES OF FORMAL INTERVIEW

 Normal – willing or cooperative witness

 Group/Pretext Interview – for hostile witness
 Follow-up - additional interview in addition to vital points if necessary

QUALIFICATIONS OF INTERVIEWER

 Salesman
 Actor
 Psychologist

REQUISITES OF AN INTERVIEW

1. Establish rapport
2. Forcefulness of Personality
3. Breadth of interest

WHAT IS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION - Criminal investigation came from Latin word INVEST which mean
to inquire or to discover during the 5 th century.

It is a legal inquiry by the virtue of a complaint to follow-up, examine, trace, track and search

step by step by patient and meticulous observation, the fact of the commission of the crime , their
identity of the suspects and the circumstances affendant thereto, by careful evaluation of all available
evidence to the end that violators of law be brought to the bar of justice, and innocent be relieved
therefrom.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AS AN ART AND SCIENCE

1. IT IS AN ART - because it is governed by rigid rules or fixed legal procedures but most ofter
based on intuition.
2. IT ISA SCIENCE - because it involves the application of knowledge’s of forensic science in
the process of identifying, locating, collecting physical evidence.
NATURE OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

1. It is a systematic process bsed on systematic plan, conducted in an orderly and legal

manner.
2. It deals with the information in the sense and all collected data from various sources are
evaluated, described including those derived from observation, reports, humors which may
be part of the subject of investigation.
3. It involves the activities of gathering and sorting facts, identifying and collecting evidence,
processing or evaluation of evidence, locating then interrogating suspects, assembling proof
of criminal guilt, presentation of evidence.

GOALS OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

1. To determine whether a crime has been committed.

2. To legally obtained information and/or evidence
3. To identify persons involved in the crime
4. To arrest suspect/s
5. To recovered stolen properties
6. To present the best and possible case to the prosecutor

ROLES OF AN INVESTIGATOR

1. Determine whether a crime has been committd

2. Identify victims and the offender
3. Locate and apprehend the accused
4. Present evidence of guilt for the suspects
5. Assist in case follow-up

KINDS OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

1. Investigation while the suspect is under arrest and detention

2. Investigation while suspect is at large

THE FOUR (4) PHASES OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

1. The identification of criminal

2. The criminal is traced, located and arrested
3. The facts or evidence to prove the guilt of the accused are gathered
4. Pieces of evidence are presented in court ( the 4 phases of criminal investigation
helps the law enforcement in identification of the perpetrator, to traced them and
be located and arrested)

EQUIPMENT OF AN INVESTIGATOR
- Police line
- Video camera
- Voice recorder
- Camera
- Measuring device gloves
- Flashlight
- Fingerprint kit
- Evidence bag
- Evidence tag
- Evidence bottle/vials
- Investigator tickler
- Evidence tong
- Evidence record book