Criminal Investigation (From What Works in Policing: Operations and Administration Examined, P 19-34, 1992, Gary W Cordner and Donna C Hale, eds. -- See NCJ-132805)

• NCJ Number: 132807
• Author(s): J E Eck
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: Anderson Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Research on criminal investigations has produced inconclusive results and suggests the need to replace the two prevailing and contradictory hypotheses with a triage hypothesis in which the investigative process implicitly works to divide cases into three groups.

Abstract

Previous research has focused on robbery and burglary investigations. The results have supported two apparently contradictory hypotheses. The first suggests that arrests and other investigative results are beyond police control and develop instead from random circumstances such as the presence of a witness or physical evidence. In contrast, the second hypothesis states that the investigative work of patrol officers and police detectives contributes substantially to crime solution. The authors' research in Georgia, Florida, and Kansas supported a combined hypothesis in which cases are implicitly assigned to those that cannot be solved with a reasonable amount of investigative effort, those that are solved by circumstances, and those that may be solved with a reasonable amount of investigative effort. This hypothesis suggests the need for management and research efforts to improve the functioning of investigation units. Nevertheless, improvements in investigative techniques are unlikely to strongly affect crime or criminal justice. Figures, tables, and 15 references