Criminal Justice: Investigating Homicide

Criminal Justice: Investigating Homicide

This paper provides answers to the questions related to investigation of homicide cases.



Q1: What are the specific ethical considerations that need to be addressed when investigating homicide?

Ans: A general overview of homicide investigation requires consideration of three basic concepts: coordination, technical services, and investigation. Coordination refers to the need to have one person assigned to coordinate all of the activities. That person directs the activities of all the services applied to the investigation and makes all of the final decisions (Geberth, 2006). Those decisions may include when to close the crime scene, what additional technical services are required, how far a neighborhood canvass should extend, or when witness interviews are complete.

It is patently unethical for the police to conduct a homicide investigation that is less than thorough. Police investigators are required by law and ethics to search for and report exculpatory as well as inculpatory evidence. In states that utilize capital punishment, persons wrongly convicted of murder are particularly vulnerable because executions cannot be recalled (Fisher, 2006).

The best efforts of an investigator or a crime scene specialist could be nullified by an improperly conducted interrogation of a suspect or the improper handling of evidence. Likewise, a professional, ethical, and scientifically sound approach to such an investigation is required to avoid a miscarriage of justice and to insure that all of the activities taken by investigators meet legal and constitutional standards.

Q2: How can we reduce the ethical problems involved in the investigation of homicides?

Ans: Once the crime scene has been cleared, the primary investigators begin the work of investigating to identify, locate, and arrest a suspect. Statements of witnesses are compared and evaluated. This process may indicate a need to reinterview certain witnesses. Additional relevant witnesses may be located and interviewed. Once a suspect has ...