'Scientific Method and Criminal Investigator\r'

'Methods Used as a shepherds crook Investigator Cynthia Scaff Kaplan University CJ210: Crime Scene Investigation professor Post March 26th, 2013 Unit-5 Methods Used as a felonious Investigator Throughout its history, criminal investigation has been built upon a regularity actingological foundation that has bring round increasingly refined and reliant on knowledge. Moreover, a rock-steady research worker often adopts a grumpy mindset when onrushing criminal investigations. Among the most sound approaches to investigation involves the use of the scientific method, which is simply a time-tested means of conclave reliable facts.Gathering nurture is the key to all good investigations, and so intelligence the three sources of information is of great concern to whatever tec. All of these items add up to a comprehensive and thorough investigation, and thus they impart all be addressed presentin. First, an exposition on the methods of inquiry be in order. The twain over arching methods of inquiry are 1) those that theorise and examine medieval events and 2) those that discover or pay back new information (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). These two are in reality inter link, and t here(predicate) is a good moot of carrefour between them.Any number of disciplines in both the stark and soft sciences gouge be employed in the service of an investigation, including those, which would not necessarily seem related to a police force investigation, like entomology, meteorology, etc. Thus, reasonableness the behavior of insects that inhabit a proboscis or the effects of weather on a body might leave behind crucial details closely the precise date and time of a murder, for example. In fact, a wide array of disciplines is often use to a complex investigation when utilise in conjunction, can provide a great deal of information to the highest degree a case.As well as utilizing the methods of inquiry, the best criminal detectives in addition principa lly approach a case with a particular mindset. In essence, the investigative mindset is part schema (innate emplacement based on a broad companionship of the world) and part active thought process. What it amounts to is an open-mindedness and (preferably unbiased) skepticism that allows the investigator to remain open to anything unusual in a case or anything that leads to a better understand of the facts and circumstances†orderâ€related to or ring a case (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).The investigator with this mindset will therefore approach a case facial expression for evidence that seems contrary to how things should be according to his or her knowledge about the world and understanding of how things generally go under normal circumstances. She is also looking for information that fits what is already known about the case, only if the investigator must be careful here not to come at it with preconceived notions about the guilt or innocence of any one directly mixed in or a tangential to the case.For the gathering of evidence, the best approach is usually the application of the scientific method, defined as such: â€Å"a method of investigation in which a problem is first gear identified and observations, experiments, or other relevant data are soce used to construct or test hypotheses that purport to solve it (Scientific method, 2009). ” The problem to be identified in this case is the investigator’s hypothesis about what took place at the nuisance scene and who was involved in it. Ergo, a good investigator moves from inductive reasoningâ€guesswork, hunches, suspicions, etc. toward deductive reasoning, which is the use of specific data app duplicityd to the built in bed to see if everything fits with what she believes to have happened. In Osterburg and Ward’s Criminal Investigation, the authors give an example in which a woman was murdered in her apartment in conjunction with a romantic dinner. Going on a hunch, t he investigator suspects an ex-boyfriend to be the culprit. He then gathers data to see if his suspicions are reinforced by the facts available to him (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).There are three sources of evidence that an investigator whitethorn draw from. The first of these is heap. The relevant sources here are all of the people directly committed to a case (witnesses, suspects and of course surviving victims) and friends, relatives and confused associates of suspects and victims (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). Although people can be open and encouraging in a case, some of them may lie; distort facts or even refuse to cooperate altogether, creating a conflict for the investigator.Witnesses may also be confused about what they actually observed as memory is not always reliable and can even be biased by personal, paid or societal schemas. Learning how to get people to cooperate with police and sorting out lies, half-truths, mistakes or previously overlooked information is esse ntial to criminal investigation. Ongoing surveillance of the people involved may also shed light on a case. The second source for investigators to consider is natural evidence.In police work, the two main disciplines employed in the interrogative sentence of this data are forensic medicine and criminalistics. The condition, lieu and position of human remains; materials and fibers located at the crime scene; the trajectory of bullets and the type of bullets used; the pattern or spatter of blood; impressions make by fingerprints, shoes or tires; the presence of illegal (such as illegal drugs or drug gear wheel or illegal weapons)â€these are all types of physical evidence that might be used to remodel a crime or other past event (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).In considering this evidence, the investigator will ask herself questions related to the crime, such as: What is this item doing here? wherefore is the blood pattern directed this way? Does this evidence support or contra dict my hypothesis about a suspect? And so on. Finally, records and documents are a prime source of evidence for most investigations. Although technically records are physical evidence, they are a particular(a) form of physical evidence, in that they are in widespread use and are used, stored and accessed both in private and professionally specifically for their informational value.It is no wonder then that they often contain or form important, extremely specific evidence for an investigator. Documents such as a driver’s license, social security note or state ID card will religious service the police identify an unknown murder victim, for example. Criminal records of a murder victim may also provide clues about the nature of his murder, such as whether or not he was involved in the illegal drug trade, which may lead to a suspect. Phone records may even indicate that two people have been in contact when one or both have denied that they know separately other (Osterburg &# 038; Ward, 2010).Records may be stored as a bad copy on paper, plastic or some other medium, or they may be stored digitally, as on a computer hard drive or CD. In the end, it is apparent that science and a scientific perspective are highly important to police investigations. The two methods of inquiry provide a basis for understand what happened and how it happened. Encountering an investigation with the kosher mindset will offer a higher(prenominal) success rate. In addition, of course, the application of the scientific method is indispensable, as is understanding and exploiting the three sources of evidence.With a truehearted foundation in these principles, a criminal investigator is well on her way towards making mind in an investigation. References Osterburg, J. W. , & Ward, R. H. (2010). Criminal investigation: A method for reconstructing the past. Albany, NY: LexisNexis/Anderson Pub Scientific method. (2009). Collins English mental lexicon †Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved March 29, 2013, from Dictionary. com website: http://dictionary. reference. com/ run/scientific method\r\n'