INTRODUCTION TO
INVESTIGATION
Mr. Cappello
Sir Robert Borden High School
9-1-1 Specialist High Skills Major Program
Overview
An Overview of Investigating
1. Defining an Investigation
2. Practices to follow during an Investigation
3. Art or Science?
Types of Investigations
1. Criminal-Non criminal
2. Reactive- Proactive
3. Overt-Covert
The Investigating Questions
1. Patterns, Leads, Tips, and Theories
Investigation Defined

Investigation: the systematic and thorough
examination or inquiry into something or someone
(the collection of facts or information) and the
recording of this examination or inquiry in a report.
The word investigate can be traced back to the Latin
word investigare, meaning "to search into.”
Investigare is based on another Latin word, vestigare,
meaning "to track or to trace."
Investigation, Art or Science?
Both!
Investigating is a science because there are certain rules
that should be followed to conduct a successful
investigation. Pure sciences and applied sciences play
an increasingly important role in the investigating
process.
Investigating is an art because it depends on the human
skills of the investigator, including interpersonal
communication and creativity.
Practices to follow during an Investigation
A logical sequence must be followed
2.
Real, physical evidence must be legally obtained
3.
Real, physical evidence must be properly stored and
preserved.
4.
Witnesses must be identified, interviewed, and
5.
prepared for any potential or actual litigation
6.
Leads must be developed.
7.
Reports and documentation must be collected
8.
Information must be accurately and completely recorded.
9.
Evidence collected must correlate to
the claim cause of action, or offence charged
1.
Criminal vs. Non Criminal
Criminal: jurisdiction of police/government agencies.
Non-criminal investigations: involve the investigation
of non-criminal incidents or events.
Non-criminal investigations may be conducted by the
public, police or private investigators. The main
difference between non-criminal investigations by the
public, police and by private investigators is that police
investigations are funded by the government, whereas
private investigations are paid for by individual clients
or businesses.
Reactive Investigation vs.
Proactive Investigation


Reactive investigation is one that is instigated on the
basis of a complaint registered by a victim or client.
For example, a person is the victim of a robbery and
reports this robbery to the police-the police then
conduct a reactive investigation.
2 Types of reactive: The preliminary investigation and
the follow-up or latent investigation. The
preliminary investigation is the initial inquiry into a
reported crime and is generally conducted by a
uniformed patrol officer.
Reactive Investigation vs.
Proactive Investigation
Proactive investigations are investigations conducted by
the police based on their own initiative.
The proactive investigation is:
 Designed to catch a criminal in the act of
committing a crime, rather than waiting until a
citizen reports a crime. The three main types of
proactive investigations are:
1.
2.
3.
Decoy operations
Repeat offender programs
Undercover drug operations
Overt vs. Covert Investigation



An overt investigation is one that is conducted openlyinvestigators do not try to hide their true identity or
hide the fact that they are conducting the investigation.
Most reactive investigations are overt.
A covert investigation, on the other hand, is conducted
in secret-the investigator tries to hide his identity and
the fact that he is conducting an investigation.
Generally proactive investigations are covert.
Covert investigations are more commonly called
undercover investigations.
Basic Police Investigation
5 tasks during the preliminary reactive investigation by a
patrol officer:
1)
Conducts a preliminary search of the area of crime:
to determine if the suspect is still present;
2)
Renders first aid to any injured parties,
3)
Detains, separates, and interviews any possible
suspects or witnesses;
4)
Restricts access to the area where the crime was
committed to prevent the destruction of evidence.
5)
Prepares the first written report of the crime, which is
generally called an incident or complaint report.
Patterns & Leads


A pattern is a series of similarities that may link
particular cases or indicate that the same person is
committing a series of crimes.
Leads are clues or pieces of information that aid in
the progress of an investigation. Leads can be
physical evidence or information received by
witnesses or other persons or through surveillances,
undercover investigations, and record searches. A
lead is anything that can assist an investigator in
resolving an investigation.
Tips & Theories


Tips are leads provided by citizens that aid in the
progress of an investigation. Generally tips involve the
identity of the suspect (eg. Crime Stoppers)
Theories are beliefs regarding the case based on
evidence, patterns, leads, tips, and other information
developed or uncovered in a case. Theories are
important because they direct the investigation.
Investigators have to be very careful in building
theories about a case, because if the theory is wrong, it
may lead them in the wrong direction.