NCJ Number
171997
Journal
Security Management Volume: 41 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1997) Pages: 123-124,126
Date Published
1997
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Deduction is a mental art all investigators should cultivate; when they are evaluating a business crime, deducing the meaning of seemingly insignificant verbal or physical clues can trigger a chain of insights that lead directly to the perpetrator.
Abstract
There are two types of reasoning: induction and deduction. Induction is the process used by science to assign validity to a generalization or premise by setting up and observing a test. It is reasoning from the specific to the general. The second type of reasoning -- deduction -- proceeds from the general to the specific. Deduction can help the investigator break through lies and false leads created by perpetrators to cover their tracks. The first step toward deductive breakthroughs is a review of the crime scene. Observations should be analyzed for the logical conclusions that can be drawn from the facts. In criminal investigations, deduction used to project the characteristics of the offender is known as criminal profiling. The development of an offender profile is particularly helpful in the case of business crimes, since many of these crimes are committed by employees, whose lifestyles and personality characteristics may be known to the manager of the victimized company. An offender profile based on existing evidence can help investigators exclude and include known suspects. Examples of the use of deduction in actual cases of employee theft are provided.