What is Crime Detection?

Detecting perpetrators is based not only on the conduct of simple investigative activities, but requires specialized knowledge of the motive behind the offender and the circumstances of the offense. Due to the increasing importance of forensic techniques, also achieved through the use of new technologies, including research on digital printers (commonly known as lie detectors), crime detection is almost always associated with a series of complicated activities that reveal evidence of crime (RAE, 2018). Crime detection normally falls into three distinguishable phases: the discovery that a crime has been committed, the identification of a suspect and the collection of sufficient evidence to indict the suspect before a court (WIL, 2018).

Crime detection and investigation used to depend mostly on witnesses, hearsay or forced confessions. The first modern crime detection organization was Scotland Yard, established in the 19th century. Crime scene investigation employs many forensic techniques, examining hairs or fibers, firearms, anatomy, bodily fluids and chemistry. Surveillance is another crime-related terminology you need to understand in order to have a full grasp of what is meant by crime detection. Surveillance is used when there is a high probability of a crime taking place at a specific place and time. Detectives are bound by all privacy laws, and must obtain a court order to intrude on privacy (Gjerde, 2018).

Another crucial concept that is worthy of expatiating on is investigation. Interrogation is probably the oldest crime detection and investigation technique. Detectives interview all known victims or witnesses and interrogate suspects to further their investigation (Gjerde, 2018). O’Hara and O’Hara (1994) give an in-depth explanation of crime detection. According to them, it is an applied science that involves the study of facts, used to identify, locate and prove the guilt of an accused criminal. A complete criminal investigation can include searching, interviews, interrogations, evidence collection and preservation and various methods of investigation.

Forensic science plays a huge role in crime detection, especially serious ones. One of the first significant achievements in the field was the development of techniques for identifying individuals by their fingerprints. In the 19th century, it was discovered that almost any contact between a finger and a fixed surface left a latent mark that could be made visible by a variety of procedures (e.g., the use of a fine powder). In 1894 in England the Troup Committee, a group established by the Home Secretary to determine the best means of personal identification, accepted that no two individuals had the same fingerprints—a proposition that has never been seriously refuted. In 1900 another committee recommended the use of fingerprints for criminal identification. Fingerprint evidence was first accepted in an Argentine court in the 1890s and in an English court in 1902. Many other countries soon adopted systems of fingerprint identification as well (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).

Fingerprinting was originally used to establish and to make readily available the criminal records of individual offenders, but it quickly came to be widely used as a means of identifying the perpetrators of particular criminal acts. Most major police forces maintain collections of fingerprints that are taken from known criminals in order to identify them later should they commit other crimes. The FBI, for example, reportedly held millions of prints in its electronic database at the beginning of the 21st century. Fingerprints found at crime scenes thus can be matched with fingerprints in such collections (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).

When it comes to suspect identification, the modus operandi, or method, used by a criminal to commit an offense sometimes helps to identify the suspect, as many offenders repeatedly commit offenses in similar ways. A burglar’s method of entry into a house, the type of property stolen, or the kind of deception practiced on the victim of a fraud all may suggest who was responsible for a crime.

Visual identification of a stranger by the victim is often possible as well. The police generally present victims or witnesses who believe that they can recognize the offender with an album containing photographs of a large number of known criminals. A suspect identified in this manner is usually asked to take part in a lineup of people with similar characteristics, from which the witness is asked to pick out the suspect. However, researchers have long known that eyewitnesses often are unreliable and that most wrongful convictions have been the result of erroneous eyewitness identifications. Scholars have suggested that cross-racial identification contributes to mistaken identification, in that members of one race may have difficulty distinguishing members of another race. Likewise, post-event assimilation, the process by which witnesses incorporate new information after the incident, can significantly alter the perception of the criminal. Finally, the stress of a crime in general, and the presence of a weapon in particular, diminish the reliability of eyewitnesses as well (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).

As noted in the introductory part of the piece, crime detection also encompasses gathering of evidence. To gain a conviction in countries where the rule of law is firmly rooted, it is essential that the investigating agency gather sufficient legally admissible evidence to convince the judge or jury that the suspect is guilty. Law enforcement agents are often reasonably certain that a particular individual is responsible for a crime but may remain unable to establish guilt by legally admissible evidence. In order to secure the necessary evidence, the police employ a variety of powers and procedures. Because those powers and procedures, if exercised improperly, would enable the law enforcement officers to interfere with the constitutionally protected freedoms of the suspect, they are normally subject to close scrutiny by legislation or by the courts (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).

In conclusion, an important aspect in the investigation of offenses is the interrogation of suspects. The aim of the questioning is usually to obtain an admission of guilt by the suspect, which would eliminate the need for a contested trial. Most countries place restrictions on the scope and methods of interrogation in order to ensure that suspects are not coerced into confessions by unacceptable means, though in practice the effectiveness of those restrictions varies greatly (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).