FUNDAMENTALS OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF INVESTIGATION

Investigation defined – the collection of facts to accomplish a threefold aim:

 to identify the guilty party;
 to locate the guilty party; and
 to provide evidence of his guilt.

TOOLS OF AN INVESTIGATOR IN GATHERING FACTS;

INFORMATION
 knowledge of facts gathered or acquired from persons or documents relevant concerning
to the commission of a crime or criminal activity.

SOURCE OF INFROMATION
1. Regular Source- records, files from government or non-government agencies, news
items.
2. Cultivated sources - information are furnished by informants and informers.
3. Grapevine sources - information disclosed by the underworld characters such as
prisoners or ex-convicts.

WHAT IS INTERVIEW AND INTERROGATION?

Interview and Interrogation - both are similar in terms of their purpose that is to acquire
information. However, they differ in a manner as to how they gather and collect information.

 Interview-is done in a simple manner of questioning and mostly done among

complainant, victims, or witness.
 Interrogation-on the other hand is intrusive or antagonistic in its approach as it
question commonly suspects, accused or hostile witness.
 Interrogation-skillful questioning of hostile witnesses and suspects.
 Interrogation- also a process of obtaining an admission or confession from those
suspects.

INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES – the following are some of the techniques practiced by

experienced investigators:

 Emotional Appeals – place the subject in the proper frame of mind. The investigator
should provide emotional stimuli that will prompt the subject to unburden himself by
confiding. Analyze the subject’s personality and decide what motivation would prompt
him to tell the truth, and then provide those motives through appropriate emotional
appeals.
 Sympathetic approach – the suspect may feel the need for sympathy or friendship. He
is apparently in trouble. Gestures of friendship may win his cooperation.
 Kindness – the simplest techniques is to assume that the suspect will confess if he is
treated in a kind and friendly manner.
 Extenuation – the investigator indicates he does not consider his subject’s indiscretion
a grave offense.
  Shifting the blame – the interrogator makes clear his belief that the subject is obviously
not the sort of person who usually gets mixed up in a crime like this. The interrogator
could tell from the start that he was not dealing with fellow who is a criminal by nature
and choice. The trouble with the suspect lies in his little weakness – he likes liquor,
perhaps, or he has had a bad run of luck in gambling.
 Mutt & Jeff – two (2) agents are employed. Mutt, the relentless investigator, who is not
going to waste any time because he knows the subject, is guilty. Jeff, on the other hand,
is obviously a kind-hearted man.

WHAT IS INSTRUMENTATION?
 it is a process of applying instruments or tools in criminal investigation.
 used in police crime laboratory in the examination of physical evidence, such as forensic
ballistics and other Sciences sometimes called criminalistics
 scientific examination of real evidence; application of instrument and methods of
physical sciences in detecting crime.

GENERAL KINDS OF INTERVIEW

1. Cognitive interview-it is conducted to willing and cooperative witness, where he is
given full opportunity to narrate their accounts without intervention, interruptions and
interference from the interviewer.
2. Question and answer- the interview as practice by some investigators, requires the
interviewee to answer the question post by the investigators or interviewer.

GOLDEN RULE IN INTERVIEW

“Never allow the interviewer to conduct nor let anyone to conduct an interview prior visit
to the locus criminis-Crime scene.

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS
1. Informal- (on the scene interview)- conducted by police/investigators at the crime scene
to get description of criminal if seen.
2. Formal – interview conducted by the investigators assigned to the case.

TYPES OF FORMAL INTERVIEW

1. Normal- for willing or cooperative witness.
2. Group/Pretext interview- for hostile witness who refuse to cooperate.
3. Follow-up- additional interview in addition to vital points if necessary.

PHASES OF INTERVIEW
1. Reparation- investigators review of the facts at the crime scene and information from
other sources in order that he would be ready for the questioning serves this stage.
2. Warming-up- this is done by preliminary questions to clear the atmosphere, promote a
conducive place for cordiality respect and trust for each other.
3. Approach – this done through investigators careful selection of what kind of approach
he will use.

TYPES OF WITNESS
1. Know nothing type- a reluctant/unwilling type of witness, found among the uneducated
and low level of intelligence.
2. Disinterested type- refers to uncooperative and different subject
 3. The drunken type- the style of questioning of investigator be adapted to the
psychology of the subject.
4. Talkative type- this is a witness who is prone to exaggerate adding irrelevant or new
Matters to their narration.
5. Honest witness- the truthful and cooperative witness where the investigator could rely
upon or with no problem in handling them
6. Deceitful witness- this is a liar type of witness.
7. Timid witness- this is a shy witness and the approach must be friendly and reassuring
confidentially of their information
8. Refusal to talk witness- this is the most subject to deal with.

PERSONS AS SOURCE OF INFORMATION

1. Informant net- it is a controlled group of people who worked through the direction of
the agent handler.
2. Informants (asset)- people selected as source of information, which could be voluntary
or in consideration of a price.
3. Informant- refers to a person who gives information to the police voluntarily or
involuntarily without any consideration.
4. Informer- those who give information to the police for a price or reward.
TYPES OF INFROMANT
1. Criminal informant- who gives information to the police pertaining to the organized
criminals with the understanding that his identity will be protected.
2. Confidential informant- who give information violate of law to includes crimes and
criminals.
3. Voluntary informant- who give information freely and willfully as a witness to an act.
4. Special informant- gives information concerning specialized cases with special
treatment by the operatives (ex, teachers, businessmen)
5. Anonymous informant- gives information through telephone with the hope that the
informant cannot be identified.
SUB TYPE OF INFROMANT
1. Incidental information- a person casually imparts information to an officer with no
intention of providing subsequent information.
2. Recruited informant- a person who is selected cultivated and developed into a
continuous source of information.