Police Sources of Information and Validation
Police can obtain criminal investigation information from physical evidence, the information provided by the public, and through other scientific methods such as psychological profiling.
Physical evidence
Physical evidence as a source of police information is evidence of a tangible nature that directly relates to crime. Examples of physical evidence include items like blood, fingerprint, crime tools like guns, knives, fibers, and many more. Physical evidence is also referred to as science or forensic evidence, meaning that the evidence has to be analyzed empirically, and results are interpreted to make some meaning out of it. Physical evidence can help the police investigators to establish crime elements. For example, pry marks left on the window may be physical evidence that may be useful in establishing whether a burglary occurred. Physical evidence can connect victims to a crime scene, offenders to a crime scene, offenders to instruments, and so on. Physical evidence is, therefore, validated scientifically using special skills, lab validation, or forensic validation. For example, a young female had a black electrical code around her neck in a homicide case (physical evidence). The cause of death was determined to be strangulation using the electrical code. A piece of similar electrical code was found in an abandoned farmhouse. Officers believed the murder must have happened in the farmhouse.
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Information from the general public
Police officers also get information from the public, and these are usually the suspects and witnesses. Primary witnesses were in the scene when the crime occurred. They overheard or observed the incidence and, as such, have knowledge of the crime. The eyewitnesses typically provide necessary information on a criminal event, and where possible, they give the perpetrator actions (establishing modus operandi). Witnesses also provide eyewitness identification and descriptions, which are generally critical to the police officers investigating a crime. This information is used to establishing proof for the police, judges, and the jury. Eyewitnesses may be inaccurate or unreliable, and as a result, they have to be validated. The law enforcers get as much information from the public, making comparisons to determine its validity.
Psychological profiling
The method is rarely understood, and it is perceived to be complicated, but for the criminal justice field, it’s an essential tool for investigators in solving crimes. Psychological profiling is a procedure that involves identifying key behavioral, personality, and background features of a specific person based on crimes committed in the past. Investigators use this approach to advance profiles for crimes such as murders, rape, and other violent criminal actions that are not yet solved. The method is based on the theory that each criminal act has a reflection of the offender’s characteristics, which research has shown the features do not change over time ("Police: Criminal Investigations - Other Sources Of Information", 2020) . In building up the characterization of the criminal, investigators refer to the behaviors exhibited and the nature of the crime, and this profiling is a matter of placing probabilities based on past criminal acts and patterns. Profiling is easy for those criminals who exhibit symptoms of psychopathology, such as sadistic rape and disfigurement murders.
Psychological profiling is essential in narrowing the possible number of criminal suspects who are already known to the investigators. Therefore, without a prior history of criminal offenses, the method cannot be used to develop a list of potential offenders. Validation of psychological profiling as a source of information is done through counterchecking the historical offenses committed. The investigators have to regularly confirm the recorded personalities of criminals with the preliminary information picked from investigations into the crime.
The reliability of this method is dependent on the quality of data selected and recorded by profilers. These profiling teams comprise of experts from diverse fields such as criminology and statistical experts. They gather information from family members of the victims, interview possible witnesses and police files, especially on the cases that remain unsolved. From the data, they follow a meticulous scientific model that helps identify potential perpetrators. The reliability of the model is influenced by various factors, such as the accuracy of gathered information, objectivity of the profiler, and assumptions made.
Criminal Justice Sources of Information and Validation
The criminal justice sources of information include digital evidence and crime analysis. Technology has become more powerful and portable; more and more data is created, stored, and accessed on digital platforms like personal phones. The criminal justice is tapping on these digital devices to obtain information relating to criminal activity. Digital evidence can be extracted from both the victim and the suspects. The information on personal phones can be extracted to determine where the victims and the suspects were during a crime, what they were talking about before and after a crime. The criminal justice can use the information to determine the kind of interaction the parties had to determine any relations to the crime. Evidence is collected from the digital platform, including threatening messages, guilt, and pictures. The digital information is validated through the service provider companies.
Crime analysis is the second source of information in a criminal investigation. Crime analysis can be defined as the procedure of detecting trends or patterns in a criminal incident. Computer data banks and computer mappings are examples of methods to reach the means. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s VI-CAP is a perfect illustration of a sophisticated and elaborate crime analysis system. When the police departments experience unsolved missing persons, homicides, or unidentified dead persons, a VI-CAP is done, which gives more details about the incidence. The data is then sent to the FBI and inserted in the VI-CAP system, which helps link crimes that happened in different jurisdictions with similar characteristics.
References
Eck, J. E. (1983). Solving crimes: The investigation of burglary and robbery. Washington,
DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
Platt, T., Frappier, J., Ray, G., Schauffler, R., Trujillo, L., Cooper, L., & Harring, S. (1982).
The iron fist and the velvet glove: An analysis of the US police. San Francisco: Crime and Social Justice Associates .
Police: Criminal Investigations - Other Sources Of Information. (2020). Retrieved 10
September 2020, from https://law.jrank.org/pages/1657/Police-Criminal-Investigations-Other-sources-information.html
