Running head: THE ROLE OF A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR

The Role of a Criminal Investigator

Bradley Faulhaber
Community College of Baltimore County- Dundalk

THE ROLE OF A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR

The Role of a Criminal Investigator

The role of a criminal investigator is essential and indispensable to our criminal justice
system today. These men and women are the ones responsible for gathering, documenting, and
evaluating evidence and information from a crime. Their ultimate goal is to discover the truth.
The truth of what happened, how it happened, and why it happened. In this paper, I am going to
detail when a criminal investigator is needed, what makes a decent criminal investigator, and the
processes of the criminal investigation from the onset of a crime to adjudication.
Criminal Investigator
The Need and Responsibilities of a Criminal investigator. In short, a criminal
investigator is someone who gathers, documents, and evaluates evidence and information with
the ultimate goal of discovering the truth (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012). They
are needed mainly when felonies and misdemeanors have been committed. Knowing that,
criminal investigators must be well versed and have a working knowledge of substantive and
procedural criminal law. Other goals of a criminal investigator are to establish that a crime was
actually committed, identity and apprehend suspects, and help in the prosecution of charged
suspects (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012).
A Decent Criminal investigator. There are many qualities that make a decent criminal
investigator. Being a critical thinker, being highly ethical, appropriately and effectively using
inductive and deductive reasoning, being well cultured, and being in touch and aware of ones,
and others, emotions and bias are to name a few (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012).
But, possible the single most sought after quality that makes a decent criminal investigator is a
strong sense of self-discipline. This one quality is essential to every successful investigator. Selfdiscipline, by definition, is the ability to make yourself do things that should be done

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(Merriam-Webster, 2016). A decent criminal investigator is not lazy. They work for every piece
of evidence and information they find and make themselves work on a case by sheer willpower.
Ones self-discipline can be the differences between catching a lead and solving a case or having
a case go unsolved.
Preliminary Investigation
The preliminary investigation is the time during the discovery of a crime, usually by a
uniformed officer, and before the criminal investigator gets to the crime scene (Swanson,
Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012). From this, the investigator will get a report from the
responding officer(s) as to what police actions were taken, and who was interviewed. These are
key points of knowledge for criminal investigators to know to start building their investigation.
Actions Taken by Responding Officer(s). During a preliminary investigation,
responding officers might have to take action(s) to render a scene safe. Doing so, they must do
their best to pay attention to details and circumstances of the scene, such as does a tactical or
hostile situation exist, are there people or vehicles fleeing the scene, is emergency care needed
for victim(s), were any suspects detained or arrested? If so, document all actions that were taken
to defuse the tactical or hostile situation, and note all people or vehicles fleeing the scene. If
emergency care was provided, note how the scene was before care was provided and if the
suspect(s) is dying, try to obtain a dying declaration. Also, if any suspect were detained or
arrested, articulate your reasonable suspicion or probable cause for doing so. Although, trying to
preserve all evidence at the crime scene is ideal, note all evidence or potential evidence that was
lost or destroyed during these actions.
Preliminary Investigation Interviews. It is important for the responding officer(s) to
conduced interviews and gather information quickly. Doing so, they will possibly be able to put

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BOLOs out for suspects and vehicles. When questioning somebody, the officer must ask the six
investigative questions- who, what, where, when, why, and how. The answers to these questions
will prove to be crucial later for the direction in which crime investigators will direct their
investigations.
Crime Scene Investigation
At its core, a crime scene is the location in which an offense(s) occurred (Swanson,
Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012). A crime scene investigation is the investigation of a crime
scene. This occurs when a criminal investigator arrives to the scene, thus ending the preliminary
investigation. The lead criminal investigator is responsible for the coordination and execution of
investigating and collecting evidence. They are responsible for the investigation plan, delegating
jobs and duties at the scene, contacting any specialized personal needed, obtaining any legal
documents needed, and the collection of evidence.
Crime Scene Coordination. The coordination of a crime scene is at the heart of an
investigation. What is done, and how it is done, will determine the results gained by evidence.
Firstly, the lead criminal investigator will conduct a walk-through of the scene
(Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012). Doing so, they will establish primary and
secondary scenes, and establish a search pattern. Also, they will identify any known hazards and
apply safety precautions to such. Furthermore, after conducting the walk-through, they will
obtain any search warrants, contact the coroner or medical examiner, contact forensics, and
obtain any specialized personal (e.g. gang expert, translators, sketch artist) all as needed.
Secondly, after conducting a crime scene walk-through, the lead criminal investigator
will delegate jobs and duties. Some personnel will be assigned to conduct interviews/
interrogations of witness/ suspects (all suspect must be Mirandized before an interrogation)

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(Walker & del Carmen, 2011). Some will be assigned to crime scene documentation. Examples
of this are crime scene entry logs, administrative logs, assignment logs, and evidence logs to
name a few. Also, digital video and digital still photography logs will need to be kept to
document all findings first hand. Lastly, others will conduct the search pattern looking for any
evidence.
Execution of Coordination. The next step is to execute the coordination plan. The goal
of this is to obtain evidence. Evidence comes in many different forms, but at a crime scene
physical evidence is most likely to be found. Physical evidence includes, but not limited to, foot
prints, fingerprints, glass, paint, fibers, documents, weapons, tools, and DNA. When collecting
said evidence, it must be documented and photographed exactly where and how such evidence
was found. After documentation, the evidence must be collected properly, entered into the
evidence log, and establish a chain of custody on that evidence (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, &
Taylor, 2012). Evidence to being sent off to a lab for testing must be properly packaged and
signed off by the lead investigator to do so. In doing so, the chain of custody log must reflect as
being sent to the lab. Also, as evidence is discovered at a crime scene, the lead investigator will
alter their original coordination plan to focus on such leads.
Releasing a Crime Scene. Before a scene can be released, all assignment must have been
completed and all people must be accounted for. All tools and equipment must be collected, and
any debris caused by the investigation must be cleaned up. Once the scene is released to the
owner or public, returning for further physical evidence or processing is not possible as other
people will contaminate the scene (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012).
Follow-up Investigation

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After the investigation of the crime scene and its release, all other investigative matters
are part of the follow-up investigation. Some actions taken during this are interviewing or
reinterviewing of witness, interrogation of potential suspects, obtaining of lab results, preparing
for court and court testimony.
(Re)interviewing and Interrogating. The goal of an interview and an interrogation is to
obtain information and facts (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012). But first, we must
distinguish the legal differences between an interview and an interrogation. In an interview,
police are allowed to question you without council present and do not inform you of your rights.
In an interrogation, you are in the custody of the police and they must read you your Miranda
rights before any questioning (Walker & del Carmen, 2011). Failure to do so will result in
inadmissible statement in court.
For (re)interviews, investigators must be able to determine if the witness is reliable.
Multiple factors come into play such as the significances of events, length of time observed,
conditions, and physical condition of the witness. In a criminal trial, a defenses lawyer will try to
discredit a witnesss testimony by saying that they only had a mere glace at the crime or that due
to old age, the witnesss eye sight is bad. It is important for a criminal investigator to remember
such things.
For interrogations, the main goals are to obtain valuable facts, eliminate the innocent,
identify the guilty, and obtain a confession (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012).
Investigators must first Mirandize the suspect before an investigative questioning (Gaines &
Miller, 2015). Second, audio and video record the interrogation for future reference (Gaines &
Miller, 2015). Lastly, before entering the interrogation room, an investigator must know all facts,

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evidence, circumstances, possible modus operandi, and lab results on the case (Swanson,
Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012).
Preparing for Court and Testimony. It is important to know during the investigation the
burden of proof need for a conviction in a criminal proceeding, proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
This is a much higher burden of proof than that needed for an arrest. Although investigators may
put a lot of time and effort into a case, the prosecutor may deny filing criminal charges against a
suspect because they dont think the evidence collected will convince a jury beyond a reasonable.
While preparing charges, it is important for the investigator and prosecutor to collaborate and
determined what direction to take in the investigation. Doing so, they can try to identify essential
evidence and information needed for a possible conviction.
Testimony is another important tool used during a court proceeding. Testimony for a
criminal investigator will show the quality, or lack thereof, of their investigation. They must also
have a working knowledge of current criminal law and articulate what they did, why they did it,
and was it legal to do. Investigators, and officers, are allowed to have and use notes/reports on
the stand (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, & Taylor, 2012). Due to the nature of police work, many
cases are very similar and they may need to refresh their memory about the case. This is not to be
used to solely read from. The investigator must independently recall main points of the case.
Conclusion
In conclusion, being a criminal investigator is not your everyday nine-to-five job. An
incredible amount of attention to detail, knowledge of laboratory capabilities, knowledge of law,
and communication skills are needed. A lot goes into investigating and building a case to go to
trial. They give up weekend, nights, and holidays to solve cases. But to them, its all about
catching the bad guys.

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References
Gaines, L. K., & Miller, R. L. (2015). CJ3. Stamford: Cengage Learning.
Merriam-Webster. (2016). Self-discipline. Retrieved from Merriam-Webster Web site:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/selfdiscipline
Swanson, C. R., Chamelin, N. C., Territo, L., & Taylor, R. W. (2012). Criminal Investigation.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Walker, J. T., & del Carmen, R. V. (2011). Briefs of Leading Cases in Law Enforcement 8th
edition. Waltham: Anderson.