The Investigation of Crime

As the lead investigator for your investigations unit you have been selected by your supervisor to develop an updated list of qualifications for new prospective investigators who apply to transfer into the unit. In particular your supervisor wants your feedback on several areas they feel will be key to the selection process. Keep in mind that your paper should be 4 to 5 pages in length, not counting the cover sheet, abstract, and reference section, and the paper should meet all APA6 standards and requirements.

Assignment Guidelines

Address the following in 750-1,000 words:

What are some of the characteristics the unit should look for in a potential investigator?

Explain the characteristics you list. Note: characteristics are not skills. They are individual character traits.

In particular, explain why honesty and integrity are critical qualities for investigators to possess.

What would be the educational level you would recommend for the beginner investigator to possess before being accepted into the unit? Why?

How would prior experience in the field play a role (if any) in your decision on your educational requirements? Explain.

What role will previous work history and supervisory recommendations play in the decision making process? Why?

Be sure to reference all sources using APA style.

You should be able to find resources to respond to this question in the textbook, but to respond comprehensively, research will need to be done via the Internet or other educational resources.

Your text titled Criminal Investigations, Bennett and Hess (2007) state that the three most important characteristics of an effective investigator are intellectual characteristics, psychological characteristics, and physical characteristics.

Intellectual characteristics: Investigators should know the elements of the crime, be able to apply investigative techniques, and be able to work with many different types of people.

The investigator should also be able to develop knowledge of and skill in investigative techniques such as interviewing, interrogating, photographing, sketching, searching, and note taking.

Knowledge and skill in investigative techniques require continuous training and experience as well. The successful investigator should also be able to make decisions based on facts and should be able to take events to a logical conclusion in investigation.

Psychological characteristics: The investigator''s work can be very stressful and requires the investigator to be emotionally stable. Investigators must be able to absorb abuse while at the same time showing kindness and empathy, all while remaining detached and uninvolved personally with the investigation. It is also important that they not accept things at face value and that they utilize their knowledge of human nature to determine the truth of what is being related.

The successful investigator also develops efficient work habits, can set time priorities, and utilizes his or her time wisely. Perseverance, coupled with inquisitiveness and intuition, are indispensable in difficult cases.

Physical characteristics: It is helpful for the investigator to possess good health and have a high energy level because the investigator will often find his or her duties to be very long and demanding. Investigators should also have keen vision and hearing, with hearing being especially important because keen hearing can help estimate the nearness of a suspect, direction of gunfire, or the direction of foot sounds.

Investigators may also have to listen to words in such contexts as moans or hysteria, or even be able to hear a very weak voice from a seriously wounded or dying victim.

In the discussion of honesty and integrity, it is first important to define the two terms.

Honesty is "the quality or fact of being honest; uprightness and fairness, truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness, freedom from deceit or fraud" (Honesty, n.d.)

Integrity is an "adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty, the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished; to preserve the integrity of the empire" (Integrity, n.d.).

An investigator being honest can make the difference between making the right and wrong decisions regarding an investigation. For example, officers would not be honest if they modified a suspect''s statement to make the suspect look guilty of a crime or if they planted evidence at the scene of a crime.

In regards to integrity, the investigator should be morally and ethically bound to do what is right for the victims, witnesses, suspects, citizens of the community, and the organization in which he or she is employed.

Regarding the educational level of an investigator, although receiving an education at a institution of higher learning can certainly provide the individual with more knowledge and skills regarding the laws, as well as the psychological and sociological aspects of crime in general.

However, it remains important that many of the skills that investigators will learn to do their job effectively will actually come from on-the-job training from other investigators or other resources.

A study of college education and performance by Truxillo, Bennett, and Collins (1998) found that no clear pattern of relationships emerged between education measures and job performance:

Therefore, it may be more relevant to study this relationship within a specific job family. For example, in a study of executives, it was found that certain education measures (e.g., possession of a law degree) were predictors of executive salary. Other research also found that certain measures of education (e.g., college grades, possession of a college degree, major) were related to specific performance criteria for managers (e.g., advancement, interpersonal ability).

One conclusion of this study was that future research should relate measures of college experience to specific performance dimensions relevant to the particular job in question. Although empirical relationships have been found between education and police job performance, these relationships have generally been weak.

Be sure to reference all sources using APA style. Make certain your paper has a header, references, black font, Times New Roman, size 12. Make certain your paper is double spaced. Make sure you include in text citations where applicable as well as references.