Introduction to Criminal Investigation: Processes, Practices and Thinking Introduction to Criminal Investigation: Processes, Practices and Thinking ROD GEHL AND DARRYL PLECAS JUSTICE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA NEW WESTMINSTER, BC Introduction to Criminal Investigation: Processes, Practices and Thinking by Rod Gehl is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Introduction to Criminal Investigation: Processes, Practices and Thinking by Rod Gehl and Darryl Plecas is, unless otherwise noted, released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) license. This means you are free to copy, retain (keep), reuse, redistribute, remix, and revise (adapt or modify) this textbook but not for commercial purposes. Under this license, anyone who revises this textbook (in whole or in part), remixes portions of this textbook with other material, or redistributes a portion of this textbook, may do so without gaining the author’s permission providing they properly attribute the textbook or portions of the textbook to the author as follows: Introduction to Criminal Investigation: Processes, Practices and Thinking by Rod Gehl and Darryl Plecas is used under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license. Additionally, if you redistribute this textbook (in whole or in part) you must retain the below statement, Download this book for free at https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/criminalinvestigation/ as follows: 1. digital format: on every electronic page 2. print format: on at least one page near the front of the book To cite this textbook using APA, for example, follow this format: Gehl, Rod & Plecas, Darryl. (2016). Introduction to Criminal Investigation: Processes, Practices and Thinking. New Westminster, BC: Justice Institute of British Columbia. Contents Acknowledgements vi Foreward vii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Some Important Basic Concepts 11 Chapter 3: What You Need To Know About Evidence 33 Chapter 4: The Process of Investigation 46 Chapter 5: Strategic Investigative Response 60 Chapter 6: Applying the Investigative Tools 69 Chapter 7: Witness Management 84 Chapter 8: Crime Scene Management 102 Chapter 9: Interviewing, Questioning, and Interrogation 122 Chapter 10: Forensic Sciences 136 Chapter 11: Summary 154 References 159 About the Authors 166 Testimonials 167 References 168 References Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank Dr. Gary Bass (LLD Honorary and Senior Research Fellow, Simon Fraser University and Retired RCMP Deputy Commissioner West), Inspector Steven McCartney (Program Director, BC Police Academy), Dr. Tim Croisdale (Associate Professor, California State University), Dr. Yvon Dandurand (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, UFV, and Fellow, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy), Steven Gehl (Sergeant, RCMP Forensic Identification Section, Retired) Robert Gehl (Inspector, Victoria Police Department, Retired), Stuart K. Wyatt, (BA, MA, Asc Forensic Identification Officer, Retired), for their very helpful reviews of earlier drafts of the manuscript. They are also very grateful to Dr. Irwin Cohen (Senior University Research Chair (RCMP) and Director of the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research, University of the Fraser Valley) for work in editing the manuscript. Finally, the authors wish to thank Dr. Tannis Morgan (Associate Director, Office of Applied Research and Graduate Studies, JIBC) for her guidance and facilitation of JIBC assistance in publication, Krista Lambert (Instructional Designer, JIBC, CTLI) for her assistance in graphics and manuscript formatting for this book, and to Stephanie Hipkin (JIBC graduate) for her collaboration in copyediting the final draft. vi Foreward I am honored to have been asked to write the foreword for this important book, written by an accomplished police officer in collaboration with a prominent Canadian criminologist. Rod Gehl began his career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and went on to have a highly successful career retiring as an Inspector with the Abbotsford Police Department, one of the most respected departments in Canada. Since retirement Rod has continued to use his investigative expertise providing advice to government and teaching at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. Now, coming together with Dr. Darryl Plecas, University of the Fraser Valley Professor Emeritus and former RCMP Research Chair, Rod has completed this book which speaks to the operational application of the criminal investigation, processes, practices, and thinking. Having known Rod professionally for over 22 years, he has my respect and that of our colleagues for his capacity in mastering the investigative processes as well as for his policing leadership. The breadth of his expertise in Major Case Management uniquely qualifies him to have written this book. This introduction to criminal investigation fills a void in the literature and will benefit police officers starting their careers in virtually all aspects of what is important to learn to be effective in policing, It not only speaks to the investigative processes but also the day to day work that policing involves. More importantly, the underlying theories, processes, practices and thinking skills remain relevant throughout the career of a police officer and therefore this book will be of value to both new recruits and seasoned police officers. The underlying themes of integrity, diligence, investigative thinking, tenacity, respect, and striving to do the best that one can do at all times, are just as important at the end of a policing career as they are at the beginning. I therefore see this book as having an enduring value to police officers at all levels and stages of their careers, and I am pleased to fully endorse it as such. Gary D. Bass (Rtd.) Deputy Commissioner Canada West Royal Canadian Mount Police vii Chapter 1: Introduction “A good investigator needs to be conscious of his or her-own thinking, and that thinking needs to be an intentional process.” It is too bad we can not just provide you with a basic template to follow every time you needed to conduct a criminal investigation; but it is not that simple. Criminal investigations can be imprecise undertakings, often performed in reaction to unpredictable and still-evolving events with incomplete information to guide the process. As such, it is impossible to teach or learn a precise methodology that can be applied in every case. Still, there are important concepts, legal rules, and processes that must be respected in every investigation. This book outlines these concepts, rules, and processes with the goal of providing practical tools to ensure successful investigative processes and investigative practices. Most importantly, this book informs you on how to approach the investigative process using “investigative thinking”. In this first chapter, we set the foundation for the book by calling attention to five important topics: 1. Criminal investigation as a thinking process 2. The need to think through the process 3. Towards modern-day investigation 4. The path to becoming an investigator 5. Understanding the investigative mind Topic 1: Criminal Investigation as a Thinking Process Criminal investigation is a multi-faceted, problem-solving challenge. Arriving at the scene of a crime, an officer is often required to rapidly make critical decisions, sometimes involving life and death, based on limited information in a dynamic environment of active and still evolving events. After a criminal event is over, the investigator is expected to preserve the crime scene, collect the evidence, and devise an investigative plan that will lead to the forming of reasonable grounds to identify and arrest the person or persons responsible for the crime. To meet these challenges, police investigators, through training and experience, learn investigative processes to develop investigative plans and prioritize responses. In this book, these investigative responses, information analyses, and plan-making skills are broken out using 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION • 2 illustrations of both tactical and strategic investigative thinking. The aim of the book is to guide you into the structured practices of tactical investigative response and strategic investigative thinking. Criminal investigation is not just a set of task skills, it is equally a set of thinking skills. To become an effective investigator, these skills need to be consciously understood and developed to the point where they are deliberately engaged to work through the problem-solving process that is criminal investigation. Trained thinking and response can be difficult to adapt into our personal repertoires because we are all conditioned to be much less formal and less evidence driven in our everyday thinking. Still, as human beings, we are all born investigators of sorts. As Taber (2006) pointed out in his book, Beyond Constructivism, people constantly construct knowledge, and, in our daily lives, we function in a perpetual state of assessing the information that is presented to us. Interpreting the perceptions of what we see and what we hear allows us reach conclusions about the world around us (Taber, 2006). Some people are critically analytical and want to see evidence to confirm their beliefs, while others are prepared to accept information at face value until they are presented facts that disprove their previously held beliefs. Either strategy is generally acceptable for ordinary people