Comprehensive Review in Crime Detection and Investigation

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers comprehensive topics in Philippine criminal justice, including investigation fundamentals, evidence handling, drug education, traffic laws, and fire behavior.

Investigation

The systematic study of facts concerning a crime, rooted in the Latin term "investigare," which means to trace or locate.

Criminal Investigation

An art or process which deals with the identity, location, and arrest of a person who commits a crime and simultaneously identify, collect, preserve, and evaluate evidence of his guilt.

Chain of Custody

The unbroken documentation of the transfer of evidence from the moment it is collected at the crime scene until it is presented in court (creation to disposal).

Physical Evidence

Any substance or object found at the crime scene; known as the unimpeachable witness because it does not lie and is considered the highest order of evidence.

Corpus Delicti

A kind of physical evidence known as the "body of the crime," which provides evidence to prove that a crime exists.

Associative Evidence

Physical evidence that serves as a link between the suspect and the crime, such as a wallet or clothing.

Tracing Evidence

Evidence used to locate a suspect, including fingerprints, blood, or saliva.

Extreme Close Up View

A photographic view used to capture specific details of physical evidence, often referred to as microphotography.

MAC Principle

A rule stating that an investigator must never move, alter, or cut any physical evidence unless it has been photographed, sketched, and measured.

Interrogation

The vigorous or aggressive questioning of a person suspected of an offense or one who is reluctant to disclose information pertinent to a criminal case.

Interview

The questioning of a person believed to possess knowledge that is of official interest to the investigator.

Kipling Method

Also known as the Six Cardinal Points of Criminal Investigation, consisting of the What, Who, When, Where, Why, and How questions.

Dactylography

The scientific examination of fingerprints for identification purposes.

Rogues Gallery

A technique of criminal identification utilizing photographic files or mug shots of known criminals.

Informant

A person who voluntarily or willingly provides information to a criminal investigator and may offer to be a witness.

Informer

The profession of providing information, usually as a recruited or paid asset of the investigator.

Instrumentation

The application of the instruments and methods of the physical sciences, such as forensic science and criminalistics, to the detection of crime.

SOCO

An acronym for Scene of Crime Operation, covering the investigation of heinous cases like murder, rape with homicide, arson, and robbery.

Comparison Standard

Samples, such as $5\,cc$ of blood or cotton swabs of saliva, taken from victims and suspects to identify and compare with evidence at the laboratory.

Custodial Investigation

The stage of investigation conducted by law enforcers when an inquiry begins to focus on a particular suspect who has been taken into custody.

Arrest

The actual restraint of a person or their submission to the custody of the person making the restraint.

Deductive Reasoning

A judgment where the investigator "jumps at a conclusion" or decides an answer first and then attempts to prove it with a collection of facts.

Inductive Reasoning

A method of judgment that collects all available facts first to allow them to determine the final judgment.

Dying Declaration

A statement made by a person who is under an impending death.

Rigor Mortis

The stiffening of the body muscles due to chemical changes in the tissue, occurring from $3\,to\,5$ hours after death and lasting until $12\,to\,20$ hours.

Asphyxia

A state of collapse due to a deficiency of oxygen supply in the tissues, particularly the brain.

Narcotic Drug

A drug that produces sleep or stupor and relieves pain by depressing the central nervous system.

Cannabis

A plant containing the principal psychoactive ingredient $\text{Tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-THC)}$.

RA 9165

The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which provides a single definition for dangerous drugs and removes the distinction between prohibited and regulated drugs.

Screening Test

A nonspecific preliminary test, also known as a color test, used to reduce the family of drugs to a manageable number.

Chromatography

A confirmatory test process of separating a mixture and comparing the migration of each component with a standard.

Transportation

The movement or conveying of persons and goods from one place to another.

Traffic Management

The skillful handling and using of resources to control and supervise the movements of vehicles, persons, or goods.

Traffic Engineering

The science of measuring traffic and travel to achieve safe and efficient transportation of persons and goods.

Skidmarks

Marks caused by the sudden application of brakes resulting in a locked wheel condition and friction against the road surface.

Culpa Aquiliana

The legal term for liability as a result of civil negligence, tort, or quasi-delict.

Fire

An oxidation process that releases energy in varying intensities in the form of light and heat.

Fire Tetrahedron

A theory describing the four elements necessary for fire: fuel, oxygen, heat, and the self-sustained chemical chain reaction.

Pyrolysis

The thermal decomposition of a solid fuel through the action of heat, releasing combustible gases.

Flashover

A condition where a room or area is heated enough that flames sweep over the entire surface.

Back draft

A smoke explosion caused by the sudden introduction of oxygen into a confined building or area.

Conduction

The transmission of heat through a solid object or conductor.

Convection

The transmission of heat by the moving currents of liquid or gas.

Radiation

The transmission of heat through the discharge and spread from a burning source.