INVESTIGATIVE FUNCTION - CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION IN THE UNITED STATES

• NCJ Number: 11336
• Author(s): R H WARD
• Date Published: 1971
• Length: 265 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: UNPUBLISHED DISSERTATION AT CALIFORNIA UNIV, BERKELEY

Annotation

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS STUDY OF THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION, COMPARING THE RELATIVE EFFICACY OF GENERALIST AND SPECIALIST INVESTIGATIVE APPROACHES.

Abstract

TWO CRIME CATEGORIES, BURGULARY AND ROBBERY, ARE FOCUSED ON AS BEING RELEVANT TO A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE INVESTIGATIVE FUNCTION. RESEARCH FINDINGS INCLUDE RESPONSES TO A QUESTIONNAIRE MAILED TO 234 POLICE DEPARTMENTS, ARREST AND CLEARANCE DATA FROM 21 SELECTED POLICE DEPARTMENTS, AND INFORMATION ACQUIRED BY THE AUTHOR IN INTERVIEWS. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CLEARANCE RATES AS A MEASURE OF PERFORMANCE WAS EVALUATED. ALTHOUGH SUCH RATES ARE THE GENERALLY ACCEPTED CRITERION OF PERFORMANCE, THEY WERE FOUND TO BE INSUFFICIENT. THE AUTHOR ALSO EXPLORED THE RELATIVE VALUES OF SPECIALIST AND GENERALIST APPROACHES TO INVESTIGATION AND, TO THE EXTENT OF HIS RESEARCH, FOUND NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THEIR EFFECTIVENESS. THE STUDY INCLUDES INFORMATION ON SUCH INTERNAL FACTORS AS SELECTION AND TRAINING OF DETECTIVES, SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION, ITS NATURE AND FUNCTION, AND VARIOUS MEASUREMENT CRITERIA, AS WELL AS THOSE EXTERNAL FACTORS SUCH AS SOCIOECONOMIC, DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL VARIABLES, WHICH MAY AFFECT THE INVESTIGATIVE OPERATION. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)