Criminal justice investigation methods and practices

Criminal Justice- Investigation

A Buy-Walk involved making multiple purchases from a certain person in an attempt to increase the amount of drugs that are being bought from that person. A buy/walk operation has the ability to create trust and a relationship between the undercover officer and the person who the drugs are being purchased from. A buy-bust operation is a frequently used operation in which the suspect is arrested upon delivery of drugs to the undercover agent. The preparation involved is identical to many other planned undercover encounters but the drawback is that the danger levels rises when surveillance agents suddenly appear to take the suspect into custody. A buy (flash)/bust is very similar to a buy-bust operation but in this case the undercover agent flashes the money to the dealer to provide a confirmation that he has enough cash to buy the drugs off of him. Reverse operations is when there is a narcotic sale in which there is a undercover investigator who is posing as the dealer and sells large quantities of narcotics to traffickers. These types of drug operations have proven successful in penetrating otherwise "untouchable drug markets" but this is also an operation that can be used against drug consumers on the street.

Eco-terrorism is a concept that refers to the act of violence or sabotage committed on behalf or in support of environmental, ecological or animal rights causes or campaigns against people and/or their property. Examples of eco-terrorist groups in the United States include the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front. For example the Earth Liberation Front, according to their website, uses "economic sabotage and guerilla warfare to stop the exploitation and the destruction of the environment."

In order for the above issues, like drug buy operations and eco-terrorism, that face our country to be brought to the justice, there are a series of concepts and issues that must be understood. Foremost, evidence is, in the broadest sense of the word, is everything that is found to contribute, determine, or demonstrate the truth of assertion- at it essence, it's the currency so to speak to fulfill the burden of proof. To that end, proof is sufficient evidence or argument for the truth of a proposition. This might include evidence from witnesses, forensic investigation and so on to prove the underlying conclusion. Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of the matter. Testimony would most likely be used in court in the form of witness recollection in order to further the proof and evidence in a case. Admissibility is any testimonial, documentary, or tangible evidence that may be introduced to the jury or the judge in order to establish or to further a point that has been made in a court case. With admissibility, comes relevance which describes how pertinent, connected or applicable something is to a given matter. A thing is relevant if it serves as a means to a given purpose- relevant evidence, proof or testimony helps the admissibility of the justice process. Also, materiality is "significant to the issue or matter at hand" which would be an item of evidence is said to be material if it has a logical connection to a fact and/or consequence to the case. The competency of evidence is essentially how competent the evidence is- it asks the question, are there are any flaws in this evidence that would make the evidence in admissible to court. The competency of witnesses also asks the same question but in the context of a witness in court- is this witness someone who is reliable and can give testimony in court that can be presented to the jury. For instance, if someone is blind but said that they saw something, the competency of that witness would be discredited. Weight is when different factors in court have different influences over the jury- for instance a powerful testimony might have greater weight than a police report that was filed.