You are a senior member of the Major Case Investigations unit for a large metropolitan police agency. The commandant of the Police Academy has contacted you and would like you to provide a presentation to the graduating class of police cadets that will be assuming street patrol duties in the next week. The topic of the paper to be presented is on the major categories of evidence in criminal cases, how they differ from one another, and their significance in the investigation.
In a white paper to the graduating police academy class, address the bulleted items listed below. There are a number of evidence-related resources that are not found in academic journals that may be utilized as references in this assignment. It is critical that when you make a statement of fact in your presentation, that you cite the reference you obtained the information from in the text of the paper and that the reference is included in your reference page. As always, your paper will be submitted in the APA format current edition. No abstract is required because this is a short position paper, but a title page, reference page, and appropriate running header with page numbers are necessary.
Address the following in 3-5 pages:
- What is real, or physical, evidence? Describe.
- Provide 3 examples of a piece of real evidence.
- What is the importance of physical or real evidence to the investigation? Explain.
- What are two methods of demonstrative evidence used to clarify the issues surrounding actions or lack of actions at a crime scene for a judge or jury? Explain.
- How would they help the triers of fact to better understand the evidence? Explain.
- What is the difference between direct evidence and circumstantial evidence? Explain.
- What is the concept of overwhelming circumstantial evidence? Explain.
- Can it be enough for a conviction? Why or why not?