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Plan an investigation and issue leads.
The work of a detective agency or private detective in Ukraine on private investigations is similar to the work of a criminal investigator, planning investigations, nominating and checking versions occurs one by one and the same principles, we will consider them in this article.
Investigation of crimes is a complex, versatile activity carried out within a certain, established time frame. The investigator must identify all the essential circumstances of the crime that took place and identify the persons who committed it. In order to fulfill these tasks, it is necessary to skillfully build investigative leads, perform various investigative actions, such as interrogations, searches, examinations, and examinations. Without an organizing principle, without purposefulness, all this complex activity will not ensure success. This is precisely what is ensured by the planning of the investigation.
What is planning? Defining it in general terms, we can say that PLANNING consists in such an organization of the preliminary investigation, which ensures the rapid and complete disclosure of the crime.
The starting points of planning are the construction of investigative versions and, in order to verify each of them, the definition of the circle of circumstances to be established.
The essence and significance of investigative versions are discussed below. Here we only note that the investigative version is a hypothetical explanation of the causes and circumstances of the event that took place, about which the investigation is underway. So, in the case of a fire, versions can be built about the causes of the fire: it arose either as a result of a criminal violation of fire safety rules, or as a result of a natural disaster, or, or arson. To check each of the named investigative versions, the investigator outlines a circle of circumstances to be established: in relation to the first version, it is necessary to find out whether electric welding work was carried out at the place of the fire, whether home-made or faulty electric heaters were installed there, for the second – whether there were a given place at a certain time of lightning discharge; to the third – did the fire break out simultaneously in several places (hearths), were there noand conditions were created conducive to the spread of fire, whether arson was used.
After the possible investigative versions in each specific case are built, the planning of the investigation begins. It is expressed as follows:
1) determination of those investigative actions that should be carried out to establish significant circumstances according to one or another investigative version (interrogations, searches, examinations, examinations);
2) determining the content of the scope of those investigative actions that are planned to be carried out (what questions it is advisable to put during the interrogation of a particular witness, before experts, what to look for during a search);
3) establishing the sequence of carrying out the planned investigative actions. Based on the nature of the crime and other circumstances, the investigator decides which of the planned investigative actions should be carried out earlier, which later. If this question is not well thought out when drawing up the plan, then a mistake, sometimes irreparable, may be made. If, for example, in a case of bribery, it is established that an official took a certain thing from his home in the presence of family members as a bribe, then it is possible to plan an interrogation of family members, as well as a search of the apartment. Moreover, if the grounds for the search are established, then it should first be carried out, and then the family members should be interrogated. If this sequence is not observed, then the accused or members of his family may hide the subject of the bribe;
4) determination of the time of carrying out the planned investigative action. Suppose, in the above case, the investigator decided to conduct a search first, and then an interrogation. Having made such a decision, he, taking into account the requirements of the law, as well as the specific circumstances of the case, must determine the day and hour of the search. Taking into account that a search at night, except in cases of urgent delay, is not allowed, as well as who, according to the available data and at what time, can be at the place of the search, the investigator chooses the most convenient time (day, hour) for the production search;
5) the choice of a place for carrying out investigative actions. In some cases, this issue is easily resolved. So, it is clear that the inspection of the scene of an incident should be carried out at the scene of the incident, the reproduction of the circumstances and the situation of the event – at the site of those events that are verified empirically. However, it is often difficult to decide where to conduct this or that investigative deed.This may include, for example, where to interrogate a witness if he is in the hospital, or it may be advisable to wait one or two days and interrogate him in the investigator’s office, or where to interrogate a minor witness. In one case, it is advisable to conduct an interrogation at the home of this witness, in another – at school, in the third – in the place where the events about which he is being interrogated took place;
6) determination of the circle of participants in a particular investigative action. This issue may be important if it is planned to conduct an inspection and other investigative actions. When planning the investigation of the case, it is necessary to provide for the participation of attesting witnesses, specialists, forensic experts, the accused, victims and others;
7) the choice of those scientific and technical means that should be used in the production of a given investigative action or that can be used. In one case, it is necessary to provide for the use of search instruments during the inspection of the scene of the incident, in the other – a caliper for making measurements, in the third – other scientific and technical means;
8) determination of those documents, as well as items that need to be demanded from institutions, officials and individual citizens. The investigator can plan to request documents of operational or accounting records, certificates of the state of the weather at one time or another in a certain place, plans of buildings and other technical documentation;
9) determination of tasks for the operational-search apparatus of the police. When investigating crimes, coordination of investigative and operational-search actions is important. The investigator, when planning the investigation of the case, must foresee what tasks must be given to the police for the performance of operational-search actions.
Of course, this is an approximate list of issues that make up the main content of planning a preliminary investigation. Moreover, when planning the investigation, these issues can be resolved not in the given sequence, but in that peculiar combination, which is due to the specific circumstances of the case.
When planning, the investigator must be guided by certain principles, which are called the principles of investigation planning. They are:
1) the principle of using investigative experience and scientific recommendations;
2) the principle of individuality;
3) the principle of dynamism.
The use of investigative experience and scientific advice means that the investigator, when planningan investigation in a particular case, should take into account the experience of investigating cases of this category (both own and generalized experience of investigative practice). This helps to correctly determine the direction of the investigation and avoid mistakes made earlier in the investigation of cases of this category.
When planning an investigation, the investigator must take into account the recommendations developed by the science of forensic science, in particular on the planning of the investigation.
Taking into account scientific recommendations when planning an investigation is important in the sense that science helps to build investigative leads correctly, determine the direction of the investigation in cases of this category, outline tactics and methods, and choose those scientific and technical means that can be used in the production of certain or other investigative activities.
Principle of individual planning. Each criminal case has its own specific, unique features that must be kept in mind when planning an investigation.
Therefore, the investigator must be creative in drawing up a plan, avoid a template, make adjustments to those recommendations that are dictated by the experience of the investigation in cases of this category and which are recommended by the science of forensic science, skillfully apply tactics and methods of investigation in cases of this category, taking into account the characteristics of the crime under investigation.
The combination of the general features of the investigation of cases of this category with the features of a particular crime is the most important rule of the investigation.
Principle of dynamic planning. Investigation planning must be flexible, mobile. If the investigation plan drawn up at the very beginning of the investigation had remained unchanged and the investigator had not corrected it as new materials were discovered, the investigation could not have been successful. Sometimes a well-thought-out plan of investigation in all details has to be changed, radically reorganized after the very first interrogation or search provided for by the same plan. But it is important to keep in mind that such a restructuring of the plan in the course of the investigation is not an end in itself. The investigation plan is not created arbitrarily, but follows from certain grounds and data available to the investigator, and changes to it should be due to new factual data.
New evidence may necessitate new versions or verification of circumstances that were not provided for by previously built versions.The results of the production of one investigative action may necessitate the production of others or the repeated conduct of individual investigative actions.
In this sense, the principle of the dynamism of the plan means its continuous improvement, addition, refinement, due to the circumstances and the situation of the investigation.
Investigative versions are called fact-based and subject to verification assumptions of the investigator about the causes of the causes and circumstances of the crime committed.
The investigator starts the investigation in connection with the fact that a certain event has occurred that served as the basis for initiating a criminal case.
The task of the investigator is to solve the crime, i.e. fully, comprehensively and objectively establish all the essential circumstances of such an event. The range of these circumstances is basically defined by law. In Art. 64 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine lists the circumstances to be established in a criminal case. They are subject to proof because they reflect the essence of the crime committed. The most important method of finding out and establishing them is the construction and verification of investigative leads.
To understand the essence of the investigative version, first of all, it should be borne in mind that versions can be discussed when at a certain, usually initial stage of the preliminary investigation, various explanations, interpretations of certain events, facts, phenomena are possible.
In forensics, investigative versions are divided into three groups: 1) general investigative versions; 2) private investigative leads; 3) working investigative leads.
The subject of general investigative versions is the event of a crime, its qualification as a crime, the guilt of a certain person in committing this crime.
For example, in connection with a fire, under certain conditions, versions can be built about the causes of the fire: arson; spontaneous combustion; careless handling of fire. These are the general versions.
The event of a crime can be proven, but it is not yet clear who committed it. According to one investigative version, Mr. A. could have committed it, according to another, Mr. B, etc.
The subject of the general investigative version may be the question of whether a given citizen committed a certain action, and the question of the guilt of a particular person in committing this action.
The subject of private investigative versions is usually individual circumstances in the case. So private versions can be built to figure out how tothe accused solicited bribes to identify the weapon with which the crime was committed.
Of course, the above distinction between general and private versions is conditional.
The investigator of the detective agency builds working investigative versions to clarify those circumstances that are predominantly of an organizational and investigative nature. As a rule, these versions lose their significance after the end of the preliminary investigation. Unlike private and especially general versions, they do not appear in court. These include versions about the location of documents, tools for committing a crime and other material evidence. If during the investigation the instruments of the crime, documents are found, then the working versions that played an important role in this will lose their significance. The workers also include search versions, for example, where the accused is hiding, where he hid the stolen things.
Verification of versions is carried out by carrying out both investigative and operational search activities carried out by bodies of inquiry.
Having determined the investigative versions to be verified in the case, the investigator detective agency proceeds to draw up a plan of the investigation.
The need for planning for a specific criminal case arises in the early stages of the investigation of each crime.
Article 64 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine defines in general terms the circle of circumstances, the establishment of which, in order to check the versions of the case, must be planned by the investigator investigating the criminal case. It provides for the establishment of four groups of circumstances.
The first includes the circumstances related to the event of the crime. The law gives an approximate list of such circumstances.
The law includes questions of guilt and motives for committing a crime to the second group, and the question of guilt and motives for a crime can be resolved only if the questions of the first group are positively resolved, i.e. if it is proved that the event took place and it is criminal.
The third group includes circumstances that affect the degree and nature of the responsibility of the accused – circumstances mitigating and aggravating responsibility, as well as other circumstances that characterize the personality of the accused.
The peculiarity of the circumstances of the fourth group – the nature and extent of the damage caused by the crime, is that it is necessary to plan their clarification only in cases of crimes that caused material damage.
Having determined the circle of circumstances to bex establishing the filed case, and having outlined the investigative actions that must be carried out for this, the investigator in the plan of the investigation of the case must reflect the order and sequence of the investigative actions.
