AC1.2– Assess the usefulness of investigative techniques in criminal investigations.
There are a variety of investigative techniques that are used by law enforcement agencies to
solve crimes; one being the use of intelligence databases, such as The Police National
Database, The Police National Computer, Crimint and the Gangs Matrix, International
Databases, and the National DNA Database. The Police National Computer holds data like
arrests, charges, summons, warnings and whether an individual is wanted or missing, as well as
driver’s licences, vehicles, and stolen property. It can be helpful to police when trying to solve
violent and/or property crime from inside the police station. The same can be said for the
National DNA Database, which holds DNA profiles from anyone who has ever committed a
crime on record, as well as samples from over 600,000 crime scenes. The type of crime this
would help best with would be organised or violent crime, and in some cases property
crimes too. Most of the time intelligence databases, as a tool, will be used when investigating
leads from the Police Station.
The strengths of using Intelligence Databases is that they contain a huge variety of information
that can benefit law enforcement in crime solving. For example, if information on an offender is
available from the crime scene, it could be used to identify a suspect or other crimes likely
committed by the same individual. An instance where an intelligence database (the National
DNA Database) was crucial in solving a crime was the case of fourteen-year-old Marion Crofts,
who was raped and murdered while cycling to her clarinet lesson on 6th June 1981. At the time,
trace evidence from her killer was left on multiple places over her clothes and body, but as they
did not have the technology yet to analyse trace evidence like this, it was carefully stored away
with the expectation that technology would improve in the future. In 1999 police were able to
build a DNA profile from the traces, and over the following two years the evidence was
continually checked against the National DNA Database until a match was made to Tony
Jasinskyj in 2001. Soon afterwards, he was arrested and taken to trial, where he was found
guilty of both rape and murder. Without the National DNA Database, this crime may never have
been solved, and Marion Colts’ family may never had gotten justice.
A weakness of the use of intelligence databases is that if a suspect comes up through one of
them very early on in a case, investigators may develop tunnel vision, focusing on making the
evidence fit the suspect and not allowing the evidence to point elsewhere. Furthermore, if
names get mixed up on a database then it can have disastrous effects for the innocent
individual. Databases like the NDNAD are hard to use when it comes to investigating
technological crime, and most of these are not hugely helpful in the event that a crime has little
to no evidence.
In conclusion, databases can be extremely useful when used in a responsible manner, and not
as a rulebook of suspects. Provided the police use intelligence databases as guidance and
suggestions as opposed to the only possible piece of information, they can be a very effective
tool in investigating crimes that are violent, or property crime, as well as organised crime.
Forensics are another technique used to collect evidence and solve crimes, it usually focuses
on and around the crime scene/s, and in most cases requires specialised training and degrees.
, Forensic evidence can include biological samples, such as hair, blood, saliva, or skin flakes, but
can also be fingerprints, shoeprints, weapons, fibres and clothing threads, or paint flakes (as
exampled in the case of Rachel Nickel, where police were somewhat stuck for evidence, but
were able to find a flake of red paint in her young son’s hair, which matched with the weapon the
police had already suspected had been used to brutally beat her). This evidence, after being
collected by SOCOs wearing protective clothing (so as to not contaminate anything), would be
sent to a lab to be analysed by a forensic specialist.
Forensics is used regularly in courts, and can be particularly effective in proving cases of rape
or murder, and other violent crimes. A definitive strength of forensic techniques is that it can
prove someone’s guilt, or, equally, prove someone’s innocence. Specifically in the example of
DNA analysis in forensics, the technique is very reliable and can also identify victims in
necessary circumstances. A case that reflects the greatness of DNA and forensics is the case of
Brian Keating’s brutal murder, where he was bludgeoned to death and left to be found in a
graveyard, still covered in blood. Once police found the van in which Brian was kidnapped,
SOCOs found dog hairs beneath the seat. From there, they were able to send the hairs to
California, America, and have the DNA analysed, and from there were able to compare it to the
DNA of one of the suspect’s dogs, and it was a match. The chance of this DNA being from
another dog was extremely small (1/484 million) which quickly resulted in Brian’s killers being
convicted for his murder.
A limitation of relying on DNA and other forensic evidence is that there may not be much, or any,
left over after a crime. Plus, with DNA specifically, if the offender’s DNA isn’t already in the
National DNA Database, then it will be much harder to identify them based on DNA alone.
Furthermore, if only a small, trace amount of DNA is used, it can result in false convictions, as
shown in the case of David Butler, who was charged with the murder of Anne Marie Foy, when it
was only his skin flakes found under her nails- which in David’s case was at an increased
likelihood because he handled money all day as a taxi driver and had a skin condition causing
his skin to flake more than average. Because of this factor, he was acquitted, and not held
responsible for the murder.
Overall, forensic evidence and forensic techniques are extremely helpful in cases, especially
violent crimes like rape and/or murder. When properly examined in a laboratory and applied
carefully, they can be the catalyst that completes a case and gets the offender charged.
Police conduct surveillance in many different ways, we most commonly hear about preplanned
surveillance, using both cameras and officers, as well as covert surveillance or going
undercover, mostly taking place out in the street, perhaps using a police station as a base.
But there is also overt (obvious) surveillance, as well as unplanned surveillance, known better
as observation.
CCTV cameras are a very good example of overt and preplanned surveillance as they are often
clearly visible by whoever is around, and can usually act as a deterrent within themselves.
However, a downside to CCTV cameras is that they tend to be in a fixed place, with a fixed and
limited view, so if they do capture a crime being committed, it may be difficult to get a lot of
information from them as they won’t have a varied view that could provide good amounts of
There are a variety of investigative techniques that are used by law enforcement agencies to
solve crimes; one being the use of intelligence databases, such as The Police National
Database, The Police National Computer, Crimint and the Gangs Matrix, International
Databases, and the National DNA Database. The Police National Computer holds data like
arrests, charges, summons, warnings and whether an individual is wanted or missing, as well as
driver’s licences, vehicles, and stolen property. It can be helpful to police when trying to solve
violent and/or property crime from inside the police station. The same can be said for the
National DNA Database, which holds DNA profiles from anyone who has ever committed a
crime on record, as well as samples from over 600,000 crime scenes. The type of crime this
would help best with would be organised or violent crime, and in some cases property
crimes too. Most of the time intelligence databases, as a tool, will be used when investigating
leads from the Police Station.
The strengths of using Intelligence Databases is that they contain a huge variety of information
that can benefit law enforcement in crime solving. For example, if information on an offender is
available from the crime scene, it could be used to identify a suspect or other crimes likely
committed by the same individual. An instance where an intelligence database (the National
DNA Database) was crucial in solving a crime was the case of fourteen-year-old Marion Crofts,
who was raped and murdered while cycling to her clarinet lesson on 6th June 1981. At the time,
trace evidence from her killer was left on multiple places over her clothes and body, but as they
did not have the technology yet to analyse trace evidence like this, it was carefully stored away
with the expectation that technology would improve in the future. In 1999 police were able to
build a DNA profile from the traces, and over the following two years the evidence was
continually checked against the National DNA Database until a match was made to Tony
Jasinskyj in 2001. Soon afterwards, he was arrested and taken to trial, where he was found
guilty of both rape and murder. Without the National DNA Database, this crime may never have
been solved, and Marion Colts’ family may never had gotten justice.
A weakness of the use of intelligence databases is that if a suspect comes up through one of
them very early on in a case, investigators may develop tunnel vision, focusing on making the
evidence fit the suspect and not allowing the evidence to point elsewhere. Furthermore, if
names get mixed up on a database then it can have disastrous effects for the innocent
individual. Databases like the NDNAD are hard to use when it comes to investigating
technological crime, and most of these are not hugely helpful in the event that a crime has little
to no evidence.
In conclusion, databases can be extremely useful when used in a responsible manner, and not
as a rulebook of suspects. Provided the police use intelligence databases as guidance and
suggestions as opposed to the only possible piece of information, they can be a very effective
tool in investigating crimes that are violent, or property crime, as well as organised crime.
Forensics are another technique used to collect evidence and solve crimes, it usually focuses
on and around the crime scene/s, and in most cases requires specialised training and degrees.
, Forensic evidence can include biological samples, such as hair, blood, saliva, or skin flakes, but
can also be fingerprints, shoeprints, weapons, fibres and clothing threads, or paint flakes (as
exampled in the case of Rachel Nickel, where police were somewhat stuck for evidence, but
were able to find a flake of red paint in her young son’s hair, which matched with the weapon the
police had already suspected had been used to brutally beat her). This evidence, after being
collected by SOCOs wearing protective clothing (so as to not contaminate anything), would be
sent to a lab to be analysed by a forensic specialist.
Forensics is used regularly in courts, and can be particularly effective in proving cases of rape
or murder, and other violent crimes. A definitive strength of forensic techniques is that it can
prove someone’s guilt, or, equally, prove someone’s innocence. Specifically in the example of
DNA analysis in forensics, the technique is very reliable and can also identify victims in
necessary circumstances. A case that reflects the greatness of DNA and forensics is the case of
Brian Keating’s brutal murder, where he was bludgeoned to death and left to be found in a
graveyard, still covered in blood. Once police found the van in which Brian was kidnapped,
SOCOs found dog hairs beneath the seat. From there, they were able to send the hairs to
California, America, and have the DNA analysed, and from there were able to compare it to the
DNA of one of the suspect’s dogs, and it was a match. The chance of this DNA being from
another dog was extremely small (1/484 million) which quickly resulted in Brian’s killers being
convicted for his murder.
A limitation of relying on DNA and other forensic evidence is that there may not be much, or any,
left over after a crime. Plus, with DNA specifically, if the offender’s DNA isn’t already in the
National DNA Database, then it will be much harder to identify them based on DNA alone.
Furthermore, if only a small, trace amount of DNA is used, it can result in false convictions, as
shown in the case of David Butler, who was charged with the murder of Anne Marie Foy, when it
was only his skin flakes found under her nails- which in David’s case was at an increased
likelihood because he handled money all day as a taxi driver and had a skin condition causing
his skin to flake more than average. Because of this factor, he was acquitted, and not held
responsible for the murder.
Overall, forensic evidence and forensic techniques are extremely helpful in cases, especially
violent crimes like rape and/or murder. When properly examined in a laboratory and applied
carefully, they can be the catalyst that completes a case and gets the offender charged.
Police conduct surveillance in many different ways, we most commonly hear about preplanned
surveillance, using both cameras and officers, as well as covert surveillance or going
undercover, mostly taking place out in the street, perhaps using a police station as a base.
But there is also overt (obvious) surveillance, as well as unplanned surveillance, known better
as observation.
CCTV cameras are a very good example of overt and preplanned surveillance as they are often
clearly visible by whoever is around, and can usually act as a deterrent within themselves.
However, a downside to CCTV cameras is that they tend to be in a fixed place, with a fixed and
limited view, so if they do capture a crime being committed, it may be difficult to get a lot of
information from them as they won’t have a varied view that could provide good amounts of
