362616-Anglès criminològic 362616-Anglès criminològic

Universitat de Barcelona Universitat de Barcelona

Dra. G. Susanne Dra. G. Susanne
mgsusanne@ub.edu mgsusanne@ub.edu

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

KEY TERMS
autopsy: The medical examination of a body to determine the time of and cause of death;
required in all cases of violent or suspicious death.
chain of custody refers to the order in which evidence is handled by individuals who are
involved in the case’s investigation. The chain of custody is pertinent to the investigation and
guarantees the physical security of all evidence that is part of the case.
contaminated prints: Prints created when fingers contaminated with blood, face powder, or
a similar material touch a clean surface.
secondary scenes: The locations of all events subsequent to and connected with the event
at the primary scene.
signature: The offender’s personal expression, basically the linkage of ritualistic and non-
ritualistic factors from one case to succeeding cases. Unlike the MO, the signature remains
constant
surveillance: The secretive and continuous observation of persons, places, and things to
obtain information concerning the activities and identity of individuals.

crime analysis: The use of systematic analytical methods to acquire timely and pertinent
information on crime patterns and trend correlations; subdivided into administrative,
strategic, and tactical analysis.
crime scene release: The end of crime scene processing and the return of the area to the
owner or another responsible person, determined by the scene coordinator.
SUSPECTS
alibi: Proof that someone who is thought to have committed a crime could not have done it,
especially the fact or statement that they were in another place at the time it happened.
arrest: The process of taking a person into legal custody to answer a criminal charge.

criminal investigative analysis: The process of analyzing crime scene patterns to
determine the personality and behavioral characteristics of offenders who commit serial
murders or rape and homicide; formerly called psychological profiling.
criminal profiling: The process of inferring distinctive personality characteristics of
individuals who commit crimes.
cross-contamination: The unwanted transfer of material between two or more sources of
physical evidence.
forensics: The application of scientific disciplines, such as geology, physics, chemistry,
biology, and mathematics, to criminal investigation and the study of physical evidence.
conviction: A formal declaration by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court
of law that someone is guilty of a criminal offence.
charging: The act of formally asserting that a particular person is to be prosecuted for a
crime.
criminal profiling: The process of inferring distinctive personality characteristics of
individuals who commit crimes.
release: To give freedom or free movement to someone or something: He
was released from prison after serving two years of a five-year sentence. She was arrested
for shoplifting but was released on bail (= after paying a sum of money to the court).

interrogation: A conversation between an investigator and a suspect that is designed to staged crime: A crime scene that the offender has contrived or altered to mislead
match acquired information to the suspect and secure a confession. investigative efforts.

interviewing: The process of obtaining information from people who have knowledge that
might be helpful in a criminal investigation.
latent fingerprints: Invisible prints (on plastic, wood of any other material) found at the
scene of the crime or on items of investigative interest.
statement analysis: An examination of a suspect's statement that focuses on how the
person expressed things (the words and tenses used, e.g.); aids in understanding the
suspect and detecting deception.

modus operandi (MO): The behaviours that are requisite for a particular offender for
perpetrating the crime.

patent fingerprints: Visible fingerprints. Usually collected by photography.

proof: The combination of all the evidence in determining the guilt or innocence of a person
accused of a crime.

search and seizure: Practices engaged in by law enforcement officers in order to gain
sufficient evidence to ensure the arrest and conviction of an offender.

search patterns, crime scene: Specific approaches for searching an entire crime scene for
evidence; include the spiral, strip/line, grid, zone/quadrant, and pie/wheel patterns.

primary scene: The location at which the initial offense was committed.

ritualistic behaviour: Behaviours that reflect the aspects of the crime scene that are
unnecessary for the accomplishment of the crime but are pivotal in expressing the primary
motivation or purpose of the criminal act itself. Represent the emotional motivation for the
crime.