CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION CHAPTER 1-4 STUDY GUIDE #3
Civil liability - person's risk of being sued. Any person acting under the authority of law
who violates another person's constitutional rights can be sued
Community policing - philosophy that the police must work with the community through
partnerships and problem solving to address problems of crime and disorder; a belief
that by working together, the police and the community can accomplish what neither
can accomplish alone
Crime - act or omission forbidden by law and punishable by a fine, imprisonment or
death. Crimes and their penalties are established and defined by state and federal
statutes and local ordinaces
Crime mapping - focuses on the location of crimes - the hotspots where most crimes
occur - rather than on the criminal
Criminal intent - performing an unlawful act on purpose, knowing the act to be illegal.
Criminal investigation - seeking all facts associated with a crime to determine the truth:
what happened and who is responsible
Criminal statute - legislative act relating to crime and its punishment
Criminalist - a person who searches for, collects and preserves physical evidence in the
investigation of crime and suspected criminals. Also a crime scene technician, examiner
or investigator
Criminalistics - branch of forensic science involved with the recording, identification and
interpretation of the minutiae (minute details) of physical evidence
Culturally adroit - skilled in interacting across gender, ethnic, generational, social and
political group lines
Data mining - process that uses powerful analytical tools to quickly and thoroughly
explore mountains of data to discover new patterns or confirm suspected patterns or
trends
Deductive reasoning - a logical process in which a conclusion follows from specific
facts; a reconstructive process based on specific pieces of evidence to establish proof
that a suspect is guilty of an offense
Elements of the crime - conditions that must exist and be proven to exist for an act to be
called a specific kind of crime
, Exculpatory evidence - physical evidence favorable to the accused, that would clear the
accused of blame; for example, having a blood type different from that found at a
homicide
Fact - an action, an event, a circumstance or an actual thing done
Felony - major crime such as homicide, aggravated assault or robbery. Usually carries a
penalty of imprisonment in a state penitentiary or death
Forensic science - application of the physical sciences and their technology to examine
physical evidence of crimes; includes the branch of criminalistics
Hot spots - geographic areas with a higher incidence rate of criminal activity
Inductive reasoning - making a generalization and establishing it by gathering specific
facts
Inference - a process of reasoning by which a fact may be deduced
Intuition - a "sudden knowing" without any conscious reasoning or apparent logic.
Based on knowledge and experience or what is commonly called street sense. An
intangible urge; a "gut feeling" developed by experience
Investigate - to observe or study closely; to inquire into something systematically in a
search for truthful information
Leads - avenues bearing clues or potential sources of information relevant to solving a
crime
Locards's principle of exchange - basic forensic theory that objects that come in contact
with each other always transfer material, however minute, to each other
Misdemeanor - minor crimes such as shoplifting or pilferage; less serious than a felony.
Usually carries a fine or a short sentence in a county or municipal jail
Modus operandi (mo) - characteristic way a criminal commits a specific type of crime
Opinion - personal belief
Ordinance - act of the legislative body of a municipality or county relating to all the rules
governing the municipality or county, including misdemeanor crime
Res gestae statements - spontaneous statements made at the time a crime is
committed and closely related to actions involved in the crime. Considered more truthful
than latter, planned responses.
Civil liability - person's risk of being sued. Any person acting under the authority of law
who violates another person's constitutional rights can be sued
Community policing - philosophy that the police must work with the community through
partnerships and problem solving to address problems of crime and disorder; a belief
that by working together, the police and the community can accomplish what neither
can accomplish alone
Crime - act or omission forbidden by law and punishable by a fine, imprisonment or
death. Crimes and their penalties are established and defined by state and federal
statutes and local ordinaces
Crime mapping - focuses on the location of crimes - the hotspots where most crimes
occur - rather than on the criminal
Criminal intent - performing an unlawful act on purpose, knowing the act to be illegal.
Criminal investigation - seeking all facts associated with a crime to determine the truth:
what happened and who is responsible
Criminal statute - legislative act relating to crime and its punishment
Criminalist - a person who searches for, collects and preserves physical evidence in the
investigation of crime and suspected criminals. Also a crime scene technician, examiner
or investigator
Criminalistics - branch of forensic science involved with the recording, identification and
interpretation of the minutiae (minute details) of physical evidence
Culturally adroit - skilled in interacting across gender, ethnic, generational, social and
political group lines
Data mining - process that uses powerful analytical tools to quickly and thoroughly
explore mountains of data to discover new patterns or confirm suspected patterns or
trends
Deductive reasoning - a logical process in which a conclusion follows from specific
facts; a reconstructive process based on specific pieces of evidence to establish proof
that a suspect is guilty of an offense
Elements of the crime - conditions that must exist and be proven to exist for an act to be
called a specific kind of crime
, Exculpatory evidence - physical evidence favorable to the accused, that would clear the
accused of blame; for example, having a blood type different from that found at a
homicide
Fact - an action, an event, a circumstance or an actual thing done
Felony - major crime such as homicide, aggravated assault or robbery. Usually carries a
penalty of imprisonment in a state penitentiary or death
Forensic science - application of the physical sciences and their technology to examine
physical evidence of crimes; includes the branch of criminalistics
Hot spots - geographic areas with a higher incidence rate of criminal activity
Inductive reasoning - making a generalization and establishing it by gathering specific
facts
Inference - a process of reasoning by which a fact may be deduced
Intuition - a "sudden knowing" without any conscious reasoning or apparent logic.
Based on knowledge and experience or what is commonly called street sense. An
intangible urge; a "gut feeling" developed by experience
Investigate - to observe or study closely; to inquire into something systematically in a
search for truthful information
Leads - avenues bearing clues or potential sources of information relevant to solving a
crime
Locards's principle of exchange - basic forensic theory that objects that come in contact
with each other always transfer material, however minute, to each other
Misdemeanor - minor crimes such as shoplifting or pilferage; less serious than a felony.
Usually carries a fine or a short sentence in a county or municipal jail
Modus operandi (mo) - characteristic way a criminal commits a specific type of crime
Opinion - personal belief
Ordinance - act of the legislative body of a municipality or county relating to all the rules
governing the municipality or county, including misdemeanor crime
Res gestae statements - spontaneous statements made at the time a crime is
committed and closely related to actions involved in the crime. Considered more truthful
than latter, planned responses.
