NCJ Number
227640
Date Published
2009
Length
256 pages
Annotation
This book provides police practitioners and students with a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practice of criminal investigation.
Abstract
Criminal investigation is one of the key functions of the police service, contributing to the achievement of a wide range of objectives at every level of policing, from the investigation of antisocial behavior in neighborhoods to international counterterrorism operations. This book contributes to the literature and provides practitioners and those undergoing training in the many disciplines that support criminal investigation with an introduction to the principles and practice of criminal investigation. It explores some of the key elements of investigative practice in the police service of England and Wales and how they are applied in the many situations where the police are called on to carry out criminal investigations. Consisting of nine chapters, the first chapter is an introduction into criminal investigations and the relationship between investigative practice, crime, and the criminal justice system. Chapter 2 looks in more depth at the development of investigative practice within the police service of England and Wales. Chapter 3 looks at how some behavior comes to be defined as criminal, and the legal and policy framework within which investigations are carried out. Chapter 4 is concerned with information and how it is generated by a crime and the unique information profile that each crime gives rise to. Chapter 5 looks at the techniques that are available to investigators to locate, gather, and use this information. Chapter 6 explores the strategies that investigators use to deploy these techniques in individual cases. Chapter 7 looks at how the work of investigators is managed within the police service. Chapter 8 looks at how law and policy, information profiles, techniques of investigation and the strategies used by investigators to deploy them to solve crime. The last chapter draws together the themes discussed throughout the book to examine how investigative practice is likely to develop in the future. Figures, tables, references, and index