Criminal Investigation is a process that involves the collection of facts and evidence with regards to a specific crime to identify and apprehend perpetrators of a crime (Stelfox, 2009). It includes activities such as interrogations, interviews, conducting searches, collection, and preservation of evidence. Criminal Investigation has two main categories: Private and public Investigators. A public criminal Investigation is one that is conducted by a federal officer who operates under strict constitutional laws. On the other hand, a private criminal investigation is conducted by a private citizen who is not obligated by the set laws and does not use government resources in his/her investigations. Despite the two categories falling under the same line of work, their methods of operations, chain of command, sources of information and training are all different.
Public criminal Investigators work under specific departments that they are assigned to, these may be homicide cases, drug-related crimes, etc. They are required by the law to present any information/evidence or criminal activity that they may have come across in their investigation in the final report. Failure to do so may result to a public investigator being charged for withholding information, therefore, making them liable to prosecution in a court of law. With reference to the National Crime Victim Law Institute (2010), the law allows these public investigators to make an arrest or use force where necessary. Private Criminal Investigations have no obligation to stick to the law, unlike public investigators, they are not limited to specific cases and can, therefore, venture into different investigations as per their client requests. They also are not obligated to report any criminal activity that they may stumble upon when conducting their investigations and are also not allowed to make any arrests or use excessive force. This could be attributed to the fact that their best interest is with their client, unlike the public investigators whose best interest is for the public since they receive funding from the government.
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Since public investigators operate under the constitutional laws, they have to follow specific protocols. For example, an arrest cannot be made before issuance of a warrant of arrest to the suspect. They also follow a chain of command where authority comes from supervisors to the subordinates. The ranks majorly define the command structure. In most police departments the ranks flow from The chief of police to the deputy chief, assistant chief, Captain, Lieutenant, sergeant and finally the officer/detective. The chief of police takes command over the department (Osterburg & Ward, 2015). All communication in public investigations flows through the chain of command. Different states, however, have different chains of commands, but regardless of the structure, the chain of command is followed by all investigators when addressing a crime. Most private criminal investigators work alone; however, when working with other licensed private investigators, they divide duties among themselves. They do not operate under policies and only report to the person they are working for.
The primary source of information for both criminal investigators is mainly the crime scene itself and the witnesses. They also source information from experts, technical or media who are related to particular fields. Public criminal investigation, however, has the upper hand as the investigators are allowed to source information from the office of the public district attorney. They are also the first to be informed of a crime scene as per the law. To acquire data from public offices, private investigators have to apply and follow the proper channels. Collecting and gathering of evidence by the criminal investigators create scenarios where both categories have to interact. As mentioned earlier, some cases require the help of an expert, e.g., homicides who may have exceptional skills in forensics to obtain information. Both investigators have to consult with the expert to acquire details. Also, when presenting their evidence in a court of law public and private investigators must also interact as in most cases they share intelligence however cautiously.
Forensic scientists are crucial when covering crime scenes. Most Investigators who are trained in their specific units may use their skills to identify perpetrators of crime. This may include a collection of DNA as evidence. However, sometimes the public and private investigators engage scientists in a technical field such as computer forensics who assists in matters of information technology that may be hard for an ordinary investigator to figure out without the required training. Profilers are also widely used in investigations; they use evidence obtained from crime scenes to profile the perpetrators this may include providing the supposed age, skills or even race. According to (Ibe, Ochie, & Obiyan, 2012) it is through profiling that Investigators are able to narrow down their searches.
Public criminal Investigators are subject to legal problems in the case where they present information that is not backed up by substantial evidence or the required paperwork. In a case where a public investigator withholds information, he is liable to prosecution. Pubic Investigators are allowed by the law to arrest individuals or use force where an arrest warrant has been issued by a court of law; private investigators, however, have no jurisdictions to conduct an arrest even where they believe they have substantial evidence. For the arrest to occur, they have to present the evidence to a public investigator as he has the jurisdiction.
In ‘The Case of the Vanishing Blonde”, Ken Brennan, a private investigator took up a case whereby a woman had been raped and abused in a hotel and left for dead near the Everglades. The case had been reported to the police, but after a few investigations, it went cold. It was after the woman sued the hotel for negligence, that its management approached Ken to investigate the case (Begley, 2011). The main challenge was identifying how the woman was able to leave the hotel and no security camera or person was able to see her. Ken Brennan took up the case, and after identifying the main suspect of the crime, Brennan contacted a detective from the Miami-Dade police department who helped with the DNA evidence that led to the perpetrator being charged with a variety of felonies including rape and kidnapping.
The aim of both public and private criminal investigators is the same: to obtain substantial evidence for the apprehending of criminals. The line between these two categories is however thin but with differences in operations, chain of command, collection of information and jurisdictions when crossed it could lead to a myriad of legal problems. The two categories, however, work together in various circumstances such as consultation with forensic experts and during the presentation of cases.
References
Begley, J. (2011, January 20). Indian River private detective gains fame in Case of the Vanishing Blonde'. Retrieved September 21, 2018, from http://archive.tcpalm.com/news/indian-river-private-detective-gains-fame-in-case-of-the-vanishing-blonde-ep-387826698-345423342.html
Ibe, P, Ochie, C., & Obiyan, E. (2012). RACIAL MISUSE OF “CRIMINAL PROFILING” BY LAW ENFORCEMENT: INTENTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies: 6 (1), 177.
National Crime Victim Law Institute. (2010, April 15). What are some common steps of a criminal investigation and prosecution? Retrieved September 21, 2018, from https://law.lclark.edu/live/news/5498-what-are-some-common-steps-of-a-criminal
Osterburg, J. W., & Ward, R. H. (2015). Criminal investigation: A method for reconstructing the past . New Providence, NJ: Lexis Nexis.
Stelfox, P. (2009). Criminal Investigation an Introduction to Principles and Practice . London: Willan.
