AC 1.2 Assess the usefulness of investigative techniques
in criminal investigations
20 MARKS = 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES
- Detailed assessment of a range of techniques
- Assess usefulness considering situations and types of crimes
Investigative techniques:
- Forensics
- Fingerprints
- CCTV
- Eyewitness testimonies
- Intelligence Databases
- Piling techniques
- Dental Records
- Saliva
- Hair
Forensics:
Forensics - investigators recovering evidence and sending them into a lab for analysis, its a
technique that helps the investigation of a crime.
Examples: blood, hair, fibres on clothes, skin flakes, semen, shoe prints, weapons, paint
flakes
Types of crimes - violent and property crime
Situations - Crime scene and laboratory, SOCO’s, forensic scientists and specialists
DNA evidence:
- DNA is found in every cell and is unique to the individual (except monozygotic twins)
- Even small samples can be extracted
- Family members have similar dna patterns which may help in a case
Strengths
- Colette Aram was raped by Hutchinson, when DNA profiling was introduced, his
son had a record so they managed to partially match the DNA from the crimescene
to him so Hutchinson got arrested
- Ted Bundy Case : forensic odontologist matched bite marks on Levy to Ted
Bundy’s teeth; helped find ted bundy guilty of two first degree murders
- Fibres of red sweater found on Sarah Payne’s shoe was matched to Roy Whitings
sweatshirt
Weaknesses
- If evidence is contaminated, miscarriage of justice may happen
- Adam Scott charged with rape as the same container used to swab him for a spitting
case in Exeter was used to swab the rape victim
- Contamination may occur when using small samples of DNA
- Can only match to the offender if the offender or a close relative is on the National
DNA database
, - Civil liberties: If someone is arrested then released without a charge, profiles taken
from them must be eventually destroyed
- Previously expensive, now £20
- Amanda Knox : didn't collect her bra until 6 weeks later, and they stored it
incorrectly so it started rusting.
Fingerprinting:
Dactyloscopy - the study that pertains all the aspects of fingerprint identification and
comparison
- Investigators use fingerprints to link perpetrators to a crime scene
- Fingerprints can be taken if you were arrested for a recordable offence
Surveillance:
- Types of crimes - property crime, violent crime, organised crime
- Situations - police station, criminal investigation unit, street
- Watching over someone or something, for example CCTV
- Covert surveillance - hidden surveillance that is pre-planned, for example: tracking
devices on vehicles, tapping phones, intercepting mail, unmarked police vehicles,
trained mobile surveillance teams
- Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) - individuals that maintain a
relationship with a target in order to gather intel, for example undercover agents and
informants who are criminals.
Strengths:
- CCTV found Anthony Hardy purchasing bin liners and then later disposing of bin
bags in Plender Street where some of the body parts were discovered
- CCTV found Waldek and Andrzej Markuszewski at the Luton festival walking with
suspects Miazga and Piotrowski
- CCTV images can be sent out in the media for the public to spot these people
Weaknesses:
- Strict rules for covert surveillance - can breach targets human rights to a private
life and entrapment
- Undercover police officers have tricked women they have targetted into sexual
relations and infiltrated peaceful protesters
- Colin Stagg was wrongly accused of the murder of Rachel Nickell after police used
an undercover agent to try and trick him into a confession (entrapment)
- CCTV cameras are easy to spot so criminals may disguise themselves or hide
- Recorded images are not alway high quality
- Cameras are fixed and cant follow a target
Eye-Witness Testimony:
EWT - evidence given by a witness to a crime
Expert witness - Anyone with knowledge, expertise and experience that can give evidence
in criminal court
Types of crimes - property crime, violent crime, organised crime
Situations - police stations, crime scene, street
Expert Witness Testimony:
Types of crimes - property crime, violent crime and e-crime
Situations - crime scene, laboratory
Strengths:
in criminal investigations
20 MARKS = 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES
- Detailed assessment of a range of techniques
- Assess usefulness considering situations and types of crimes
Investigative techniques:
- Forensics
- Fingerprints
- CCTV
- Eyewitness testimonies
- Intelligence Databases
- Piling techniques
- Dental Records
- Saliva
- Hair
Forensics:
Forensics - investigators recovering evidence and sending them into a lab for analysis, its a
technique that helps the investigation of a crime.
Examples: blood, hair, fibres on clothes, skin flakes, semen, shoe prints, weapons, paint
flakes
Types of crimes - violent and property crime
Situations - Crime scene and laboratory, SOCO’s, forensic scientists and specialists
DNA evidence:
- DNA is found in every cell and is unique to the individual (except monozygotic twins)
- Even small samples can be extracted
- Family members have similar dna patterns which may help in a case
Strengths
- Colette Aram was raped by Hutchinson, when DNA profiling was introduced, his
son had a record so they managed to partially match the DNA from the crimescene
to him so Hutchinson got arrested
- Ted Bundy Case : forensic odontologist matched bite marks on Levy to Ted
Bundy’s teeth; helped find ted bundy guilty of two first degree murders
- Fibres of red sweater found on Sarah Payne’s shoe was matched to Roy Whitings
sweatshirt
Weaknesses
- If evidence is contaminated, miscarriage of justice may happen
- Adam Scott charged with rape as the same container used to swab him for a spitting
case in Exeter was used to swab the rape victim
- Contamination may occur when using small samples of DNA
- Can only match to the offender if the offender or a close relative is on the National
DNA database
, - Civil liberties: If someone is arrested then released without a charge, profiles taken
from them must be eventually destroyed
- Previously expensive, now £20
- Amanda Knox : didn't collect her bra until 6 weeks later, and they stored it
incorrectly so it started rusting.
Fingerprinting:
Dactyloscopy - the study that pertains all the aspects of fingerprint identification and
comparison
- Investigators use fingerprints to link perpetrators to a crime scene
- Fingerprints can be taken if you were arrested for a recordable offence
Surveillance:
- Types of crimes - property crime, violent crime, organised crime
- Situations - police station, criminal investigation unit, street
- Watching over someone or something, for example CCTV
- Covert surveillance - hidden surveillance that is pre-planned, for example: tracking
devices on vehicles, tapping phones, intercepting mail, unmarked police vehicles,
trained mobile surveillance teams
- Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) - individuals that maintain a
relationship with a target in order to gather intel, for example undercover agents and
informants who are criminals.
Strengths:
- CCTV found Anthony Hardy purchasing bin liners and then later disposing of bin
bags in Plender Street where some of the body parts were discovered
- CCTV found Waldek and Andrzej Markuszewski at the Luton festival walking with
suspects Miazga and Piotrowski
- CCTV images can be sent out in the media for the public to spot these people
Weaknesses:
- Strict rules for covert surveillance - can breach targets human rights to a private
life and entrapment
- Undercover police officers have tricked women they have targetted into sexual
relations and infiltrated peaceful protesters
- Colin Stagg was wrongly accused of the murder of Rachel Nickell after police used
an undercover agent to try and trick him into a confession (entrapment)
- CCTV cameras are easy to spot so criminals may disguise themselves or hide
- Recorded images are not alway high quality
- Cameras are fixed and cant follow a target
Eye-Witness Testimony:
EWT - evidence given by a witness to a crime
Expert witness - Anyone with knowledge, expertise and experience that can give evidence
in criminal court
Types of crimes - property crime, violent crime, organised crime
Situations - police stations, crime scene, street
Expert Witness Testimony:
Types of crimes - property crime, violent crime and e-crime
Situations - crime scene, laboratory
Strengths:
