Preliminary investigations
Preliminary investigations are investigations carried out before any matter is prosecuted in court. Evidence has to be produced to establish whether the suspect has committed the crime, they are accused of, as well as determine whether there is sufficient evidence to merit a full investigation. In legal terms, preliminary investigations are inquiries conducted by law enforcement officers in order to gather information about an allegation that has been made on the accused person. Inquires are in two fold where preliminary investigations are designed to establish whether a crime was committed and to establish and identify the suspect. In other cases, it is used to confirm the identity of the suspect.
The preliminary investigation determines whether to continue with the case or not to move forward. The moving forward includes full investigation and trial. The process begins when a complaint is filed at a police station. The officer in charge takes down the details of the crime and people who are related to the case. The allegations are confirmed as to whether they are true or false and if they are true, the investigations begin. The clarification of allegations is followed by a collection of evidence, which involves the taking of photographs of the crime scene, especially when, the crime involves major crimes such as murder, arson and sudden deaths among others. Later, interviews are conducted on the people who were on the crime scene to know what the side of the story was, and if the case proceeds to trial, they can be used as witnesses.
A report is then made on the information that the officer has collected as evidence in the case. The report also helps the officer to identify the suspect, as the information provided during the interviews will have a description of the suspect (Becker, & Dutelle, 2013). The 28 U.S CODE & 592 provides for the requirements of preliminary investigations, among other important information such as application for appointment of an independent counsel.
There is a need to improve the quality of information when it comes to full information. Therefore, the officers should emphasize more when it comes to collecting evidence. Reason being it ensures that when it comes to collaboration of evidence during trial, they have their facts right. For instance, physical evidence is important a need for more work force and people who are more acquainted and informed to collecting of evidence. By so doing, they ensure that the evidence collected is not tampered with and they get the evidence first hand.
There are different ways in which investigations or preliminary investigations are conducted. The investigations vary from one case to another. For instance, when it comes to murder the crime is reported to the officer in charge and the officer’s report to the crime scene where they take photographs of the scene and interview the witnesses of the crime. They also ask people to identify and describe the suspect of the crime. They also take fingerprint samples and they gather the possible talks that might have been used to commit the crime. A doctor is also called upon to state whether the victim is dead or not. Later, the body is taken to the coroner’s office when an autopsy is carried out to see what the cause of death was for the victim and whether he or she was actually murdered. The autopsy also helps to determine the object that was used to commit murder or the crime.
In sex related cases and especially rape the victim reports the crime and the officer takes the victim to a hospital, whether e the doctor conduct a rape kit exam to identify whether the victim was really raped and whether the allegations are true. If it is determined that the allegations are true an interview is conducted on the victim in order to identify the suspect who is later arrested for the victim to identify in a line up. The major difference between the two major crimes is that the victim of the case reports the crime while the victims relative, friend, or next of kin report the murder case the crime. Additionally, the doctor and not a coroner conduct the examination.
There are various characteristics of a good investigating officer. First, the officer should be keen and attentive to notice the little things that many people tend to miss. For instance, while conducting a murder investigation the officer should be very keen to notice very little things' reason being the things that are missing in a crime scene or maybe the evidence needed to prosecute the defendant (Brown, 2001). If these are not seen during the investigation, then the murderer can be set free and continue committing the murders. Secondly, the criminal investigator should be honest and be a person who has good judgment. Reason being the officer may find something incriminating a person they know, and for that reason they may want to conceal the evidence in order to protect the friend keeping away the information from other officers, which is professional unethical. This makes the whole investigation bogus and they end up even prosecuting the wrong person. Therefore, the officer should be a person with good judgment and honest to ensure that they do not prosecute the wrong person. They should always provide all the information they correct in a crime scene.
Thirdly, the officer should be well informed on matters of the investigation and should be able to relate well with other investigators. For example, the coroner, the forensics, ballistics among others. Reason being these people act are partners in the investigation as they share the information and evidence they collect in a crime scene. When they have a good relationship, they are able to collect credible evidence and compare notes on what every person has seen on their own perspective. Therefore, the investigator should be well informed in matters concerning all forms of investigations and not only their specialty.
Freedom of information is a right that citizens of any country have been given by the constitution. This means that people are entitled to all information, especially information they can use to protect themselves from harm. This means that criminal investigations should maintain the balance in regards to freedom of information in media outlets and they should inform the citizens about anything that affects them negatively or positively. The only privacy rights that are accorded to the perpetrators of any crime are the right to property and family. However, when it comes down to the crimes, they have committed, then the public through public policy has the right to know about such crimes so that the public can know how to handle the perpetrator in case they are released out from jail.
Reference list
Becker, R. F., & Dutelle, A. W. (2013). Criminal investigation. Burlington, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Brown, M. F. (2001). Criminal investigation: Law and practice. Boston: Butterworth- Heinemann.
