Crime Detection and Investigation Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering criminal investigation techniques, legal definitions, forensic medicine, traffic management, and environmental laws based on the mockboard lecture notes.

Criminal Investigation

The collection of facts in order to accomplish a three-fold aim: to identify the guilty party, to locate the guilty party, and to provide evidence to the suspect’s guilt.

Three-fold aim of Criminal Investigation

a) To identify the guilty party, b) to locate the guilty party, and c) to provide evidence to the suspect’s guilt.

First phase of criminal investigation

To identify the perpetrator.

Second phase of criminal investigation

To locate the suspect.

RA 7438

The law which defines certain rights of persons arrested, detained, or under custodial investigation, including the right to visits by immediate family members.

Immediate family members under RA 7438

Includes spouse, fiancé or fiancée, parent or child, brother or sister, grandparent or grandchild, uncle or aunt, and nephew or niece.

Information (Tool of Investigation)

The knowledge which the investigator gathers from other persons and can be derived from private or public records.

Cardinal Points of Criminal Investigation

The 5Ws and 1H: What specific offence was committed? Who committed it? When? Where? Why? And how?

Modus Operandi File

A tool used to help the criminal investigator identify the perpetrator based on their method of operation.

Associative Evidence

Evidence that connects the suspect to the crime scene, discrediting alibis and defenses regarding their presence at the scene.

Corpus Delicti

The essential parts of the body of the crime or the body of the crime itself.

Inductive approach

A type of reasoning used in reconstructing a crime where a detective forms a theory from the evidence gathered.

Chain of custody

The required observation maintained to preserve the physical integrity of evidence collected from the crime scene.

Sketch of locality

A sketch that gives a picture of the scene, the crime, and its environs, including neighboring buildings and roads.

Cross projection sketch

A sketch method that projects the walls and ceiling onto the same plane as the floor to show evidence like bloodstains or bullet holes.

Finished sketch

A sketch prepared at the office characterized by accuracy, clearness, and professionalism.

Deposition

The statement or testimony taken from a witness who cannot take the witness stand at the time of the trial for some justifiable reason.

Surveillant

The plainclothes investigator assigned to make the observation during a surveillance operation.

Stake out

Surveillance activity made for the purpose of waiting for the anticipated arrival of a suspect or observing actions from a fixed location.

Intelligence Cycle Phases

Direction, Collection, Processing, and Dissemination; information becomes intelligence during the Processing phase.

Loose tail

A type of shadowing employed when a general impression of the subject’s habits and associates is required.

Baseline Method

A measurement method that establishes a straight line from one fixed point to another, from which measurements are taken at right angles.

Extenuation

An interrogation technique where the investigator tells the interrogee that anyone else might have done the same thing and the offense is trivial.

Suspended animation

A condition in which cardiac activity and breathing reach such a low level that an investigator may be deceived into assuming death.

Livor mortis

The pooling of blood in the dependent parts of the body after death, causing purplish discoloration.

Post mortem examination

The external examination of a dead body without incisions, though fluids may be collected.

Syncope

The pathological classification of death resulting from the heart's inability to pump blood effectively, such as after sudden cardiac arrest.

Laceration

An injury caused by a blunt object resulting in the forceful tearing of the skin.

Saponification

A condition wherein fatty tissue of the body is transformed to a soft brownish-white substance known as adipocere.

IRONIC

An acronym for witness interviews: Identity, Rapport, Opening statement, Narration, Inquiry, and Conclusion.

Rubor

Redness or congestion of an area due to an increase of blood supply as part of the reparative mechanism.

Torture

An act by which severe pain or suffering, physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted to obtain information or a confession.

Coup Injury

An injury located exactly where the force was applied, reflecting the point of impact.

Cadaveric spasm

The stiffening of a certain group of muscles occurring at the moment of death, usually associated with violent death.

Hematoma

A type of close wound characterized by the large extravasation of blood in a newly formed cavity that appears like swelling.

Last Clear Chance principle

The principle used to determine liability in accidents where one party saw the danger but failed to apply brakes or avoid the collision despite having the chance.

Field Sobriety Tests

Standardized tests such as Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, The Walk-and-Turn, and The One-Leg Stand used to assess intoxication.

Perception of hazards

In the chain of events of vehicular accidents, the act of identifying and understanding an unusual condition as a sign of an approaching accident.

Hallucinogens

Drugs that affect the sensation, thinking, self-awareness, and emotion of a person.

Tolerance (Drugs)

A state where the organism is too accustomed to a chemical and requires additional amounts to achieve the desired effect.

Backdraft

A fire phenomenon occurring when fresh air rushes into a burning room with little oxygen, causing a sudden explosion.

Fire Tetrahedron components

Heat, Oxygen, Fuel, and Chemical Chain Reaction.

Spalling

The breaking or flaking off of surface layers of concrete or brick due to exposure to intense heat.

Spot Report

An accounting of actions or a series of actions undertaken in relation to an ongoing investigation of a case.

Pink Blotter

A record containing the daily registry of crime incident reports involving VAWC, TIP, and other gender-based violence.

Warrant to Disclose Computer Data

A court order requiring a service provider to release subscriber’s information or relevant data for investigation.

Writ of Kalikasan

A remedy for environmental damage of such magnitude as to prejudice the life or health of inhabitants in two or more cities or provinces.

Effluent

Discharge from known sources passed into water or land, such as wastewater from industrial or commercial facilities.