Criminal Investigation

A Method for Reconstructing the Past

6th Edition - June 25, 2010
Imprint: Anderson
Authors: James W. Osterburg, Richard H. Ward
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 4 3 7 7 - 7 8 9 4 - 6

Criminal Investigation: A Method for Reconstructing the Past is written to educate readers about how detective work should be conducted and how to clarify the investigative… Read more

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Criminal Investigation: A Method for Reconstructing the Past is written to educate readers about how detective work should be conducted and how to clarify the investigative process. The text includes a comprehensive discussion of the fundamentals of criminal investigations and the method for reconstructing an event or crime. The ideas presented in this book are based on three major sources of information: people, physical evidence, and records. The authors organize the parts of the text into three sections. The first section covers the foundation and principles of criminal investigation, including responsibilities and attributes of an investigator; interpretation of physical evidence; discovery of crime scenes; and the preservation, collection and transmission of evidence. Included in this division of the text is the illustration and discussion of the methods of seeking and obtaining information from people and records; followed by the discussion about surveillance, witness identification and interrogation procedures. The second part of the book covers the application of the principles discussed in the first section to criminal investigation. It includes the procedures of reconstructing the past events and the crime, and constitutional law, which forms the appropriate methods of criminal investigation and the categories of crimes. The last section of the book presents numerous special topics such as the emergence of crime, terrorism and urban disorder, computers and technological crime, and enterprise crime. The book is written for students, beginners, non-experts and professionals in the criminal justice field.

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Preface

Section I The Foundation and Principles of Criminal Investigation

    Part A Sources and Uses of Information

         1 The Investigator: Responsibilities and Attributes; Origins and Trends

         2 Physical Evidence: Development, Interpretation, Investigative Value

         3 The Crime Scene: Discovery, Preservation, Collection, and Transmission of Evidence

         4 People as a Source of Information

    Part B Seeking and Obtaining Information: People and Records

         5 Records and Files: Investigative Uses and Sources

         6 Interviews: Obtaining Information from Witnesses

         7 Informants: Cultivation and Motivation

    Part C Follow-Up Measures: Reaping Information

         8 Surveillance: A Fact-finding Tool—Legality and Practice

         9 Eyewitness Identification: Guidelines and Procedures

         10 Interrogation: Purpose and Principles

         11 Interrogation of Suspects and Hostile Witnesses: Guidelines and Procedures

Section II Applying the Principles to Criminal Investigation

         12 Managing Criminal Investigations

         13 Reconstructing the Past: Methods, Evidence, Examples

         14 Crime and Constitutional Law: The Foundations of Criminal Investigation

         15 Evidence and Effective Testimony

         16 Homicide

         17 Robbery

         18 Rape and Other Sex Crimes

         19 Burglary

         20 Arson and Explosives

Section III Special Topics

    21 Increasing Threats and Emerging Crime

         Introduction

         Identity Theft

         Internet Fraud

         Exploitation of Women and Children

         Home Invasions

         Con Games

         Thefts of Paintings and Cultural Objects

         Copies and “Knockoffs”

         Body Parts

         School and Workplace Violence

         Satanism, Cults, and Ritual Crime

         Notes

         Supplemental Readings

    22 Terrorism and Urban Disorder

         Introduction

         Overview

         Legal Aspects

         Terrorism Investigations

         Proactive Investigations

         Reactive Investigations

         Types of Terrorism and Violent Groups

         Urban Violence and Street Gang Investigations

         Types of Attacks

         Strategic Initiatives

         Notes

         Supplemental Readings

    23 Computers and Technological Crime

         Introduction

         Cybercrime: Information Technology and Criminal Activity

         Systemic Components

         Legal Issues

         Investigating High-Tech and IT Crime

         Computer Crime Investigation and the Electronic Crime Scene

         Notes

         Supplemental Readings

    24 Enterprise Crime: Organized, Economic, and White-Collar Crime

         Introduction

         The Enterprise Criminal

         Conducting the Investigation

         A Typology of Enterprise Criminality

         Government Corruption in the United States

         New Developments in Crime

         The Investigation of Illegal Drugs and Drug Trafficking

         Notes

         Supplemental Readings

Glossary

Index

James W. Osterburg

James W. Osterburg was long involved in the investigation process, actively engaged in the functions of teaching, research, and public service. For 20 years, Osterburg served as a sworn member of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), where he assisted in the investigation of thousands of serious crimes. He testified in municipal, state, and federal courts on numerous occasions, and taught at the NYPD Police Academy. His academic affiliations include professorships at the University of Illinois at Chicago (Professor Emeritus); Indiana University; the University of California, Berkeley; the Baruch School of Public Administration at the City University of New York; and Sam Houston State University (as Beto Professor of Criminal Justice). A frequent participant in educational symposia, he discussed criminal investigation, criminalistics, fingerprint characteristics, and scientific evidence, and authored books on criminalistics and scientific investigation. His articles were published in a variety of scholarly journals, including the Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science; the Journal of the Forensic Sciences; the Journal of the American Statistical Association; and the Journal of Police Science and Administration. A Fellow and past president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Osterburg served on the ad hoc committee appointed by the Academy president to review the homicide of Robert F. Kennedy and to help resolve the controversy that arose subsequent to the conviction of Sirhan B. Sirhan regarding some of the firearms evidence. Most recently, Osterburg was awarded the 2010 Paul L. Kirk Award, the highest award conferred by the Criminalistics Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), and was named a Distinguished Fellow Honoree at the 2012 AAFS conference.

Affiliations and expertise

Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois

Richard H. Ward

Richard H. Ward is currently Associate Vice President for Research and Special Programs at the University of New Haven. He recently left the position of Dean of the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences there. A former New York City Detective, Dr. Ward is an internationally recognized expert on issues related to criminal investigation and global crime.

Affiliations and expertise

Associate Vice President for Research and Special Programs, University of New Haven

Life Sciences

Physical Sciences & Engineering

Social Sciences & Humanities

Health