Criminal investigations: methods, procedures, and practices

Criminal Investigations:

The process of investigating, reporting, and prosecuting criminal offenses requires both legal and ethical preparations in order for successful prosecution of a case. The need for legal and ethical preparations is fueled by the fact that there is an unbelievable amount of work that needs to be done in relation to the statements, items, evidence, and witnesses before a case is presented in a court of law before a judge or jury. While there are various types of crimes, several ethical aspects must be considered from the start of the case i.e. when an investigator arrives at the crime scene. Ethical considerations are vital to decisions that incorporate force, discretion, and due process that need individuals to make enlightened moral judgments. Actually, the study of ethics enables professionals and practitioners in the criminal justice system to identify the necessary ethical considerations of several actions and the associated moral principles.

Ethical Considerations when Investigating Homicide and Rape Cases:

Banks (2004) states that ethics is the germane of many management and policy decisions within the criminal justice system associated with punishment and help in determining whether to impose, deter, or rehabilitate just deserts. Due to the importance of ethics in the criminal justice field, various cases require certain ethical considerations to be addressed when investigating the particular offense. For investigators of crime, one of the most important considerations that must be taken into account is the need to be non-biased and open-minded even before arriving at the crime scene. This is despite of the difference in ethical considerations depending on the specific case being investigated.

Homicide is an offense that involves the illegal yet un-predetermined voluntary murder of another person that is likely to earn the convicted offender a sentence that is greater than manslaughter but less than murder. This type of case requires specific legal and ethical preparations and considerations since the victim of the offense isn't there at trial. In the process of investigating this crime, the investigator should show extreme compassion and sympathy to the relatives and friends of the victim. This is primarily because the relatives and friends would be very upset with the death of the victim and are likely to be informants or witnesses for the case. Since the investigator cannot ignore their emotions, part of their work could involve building relationships with the relatives and friends of the victim (Lyon, n.d.).

On the other hand, the ethical considerations that should be taken into account when investigating rape cases is increased sensitivity to the rape victim. The need for such sensitivity originates from the fact that the rape victim may be in a state of emotional shock that could probably impact the process of finding necessary information to investigate the suspected offender(s). Investigators should also demonstrate the element of sensitivity when gathering, preserving, and transmitting evidence from the commencement of the process at the crime scene.

Reducing Ethical Problems Associated with Investigating Homicide and Rape Cases:

In relation to the investigation of these crimes, the inability of the investigator to take into account the necessary ethical considerations tend to contribute to various ethical problems. Such problems usually contribute to numerous difficulties in the successful prosecution of suspects of such cases. In most cases, the ethical problems originate from speedy investigations that are not handled in thorough and professional manner leading to false arrest or the case being thrown out of court. Therefore, there is a huge need for the investigator to adopt various measures that help in reducing ethical problems when investigating the cases.

For homicide cases, these problems can be lessened through treatment of suspects as innocent people until proven guilty and not coercing or unduly forcing the suspect to provide information. Moreover, the investigator should inform the suspect of his/her constitutional rights during the investigation process. For rape cases, ethical problems can be reduced by not distrusting the victim's information and treating the victim's testimonial evidence as the initial step for ongoing investigation until the actual perpetrator is convicted. This is particularly because of the increased concern regarding some of the strategies and tactics that are used by investigators in rape cases (Temkin, 2000, p. 241).

Prosecution Problems and Issue Related to the Prosecutor in the Case:

In cases where the investigator was unethical in their duties, there are various prosecution problems that are likely to arise. These prosecution problems are likely to allow the suspects of homicide and rape not to be convicted of the offenses they carry out. Consequently, the arising prosecution problems can lead to recidivism where the criminals commit the same offenses upon being released from the hands of justice. The other prosecution problems that are likely to occur if the investigator is unethical include the presentation of inappropriate evidence in the criminal trial and biased judgment or sentencing of the suspects. Furthermore, the prosecutor of these cases is likely to state that the suspect had nothing to do with the offense or that the sexual contact was not rape but mutual. Similar to the investigator's duties, the prosecutor also needs to take into account some ethical issues that directly relate to him/her. Some of these issues include ensuring that he/she is not extremely biased, limiting statements to the evidence at hand, and need not to be preoccupied with pre-conceived notions about the defendant.