CDI-1: FUNDAMENTALS OF CRIMINAL

INVESTIGATION
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
 is an art which deals with the identity and location of the offender and provides evidence
of guilt through criminal proceedings.

INVESTIGATION DEFINED
 The collection of facts to accomplish a three-fold aim:
a. to identify the guilty party;
b. to locate the guilty party; and
c. to provide evidence of his guilt.

PRIMARY JOB OF AN INVESTIGATOR

 The primary job of the investigator is to discover whether or not an offense has been
committed under the law, after determining what specific offense has been committed, he
must discover how it was committed, by whom, where it was committed, when and why
it was committed (Cardinal points of Investigation 5W’s and 1H).

SIX CARDINAL POINTS OF INVESTIGATION

WHAT Specific Offense Has Been NATURE OF CRIME
Committed?
WHERE crime was committed? Place or location
WHEN it was committed? Time and date

WHOM it was committed? Persons/s involved

WHY it was committed? Reason or motive of
Committing the crime
HOW it was committed? Manner, method or modus
operandi

QUALITIES OF A GOOD INVESTIGATOR

1. Perseverance
2. Intelligence
3. Honest
4. Understanding of the people and environment
5. Keen power of observation

TRAINING
Training, as one of the foundations of investigation, is concededly a vital ingredient in the
creation of a total investigator. Experience alone does not make one good investigator. Many
who had been hostage to this notion often ended in jeopardy. The ideal conjugal partnership is
training and experience. The fusion of the best training and vast experience is a formidable
force that can threat even the most sophisticated technology and syndicated crimes. The
necessity of training as a purveyor of change builds the investigator’s confidence. It widens
his vision for professional growth and strengthens his will to survive and prevail over crises.
The National Forensic Science Training Institute (NFSTI) under the Philippine Public Safety
College is the institution that trains uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police to
become a certified investigator.

THREE TOOLS OF INVESTIGATION

1. INFORMATION
 It is the knowledge/data which an investigator acquired from other persons and records.

CLASSES OF INFORMATION
a. Regular Sources
CDI-1: FUNDAMENTALS OF CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATION
 records, files from government and non-government agencies, news items.
b. Cultivated Sources
 information gathered upon initiative of the investigator from informants, vendors, taxicab
driver, GRO, and others.
c. Grapevine Sources
 these are information coming from the underworld characters such as prisoners and ex-
convicts.

2. INTERVIEW AND INTERROGATION

INTERVIEW
 Is a conversation with a purpose, motivated by a desire to obtain certain information
from the person being interviewed as to what was done, seen, felt, heard, tasted, smell or
known.
 This is the questioning of a person believed to possess knowledge that is in official
interest to the investigator.

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
 Nobody has to talk to law enforcers. No law compels a person to talk to the police if he
does not want to. Therefore, people will have to be persuaded, always within legal and
ethical limits, to talk to law enforcers. This makes interviewing an art.

I.R.O.N.I.C. FORMAT
 The interview of a witness can be described by its acronym ‘IRONIC’ which stands for
Identity, Rapport, Opening Statement, Narration, Inquiry, and conclusion.
 IDENTITY
prior to the commencement of an interview, the investigator should identify himself to the
subject by name, rank and agency. Except, when there is no need to know the officer’s
identity.
 RAPPORT
it is good to get the positive feeling of the subject towards the investigators, such friendly
atmosphere is a vital for both the subject and the investigator t have a better interaction.
 OPENING STATEMENT
the investigator must have to indicate why the subject is being contracted.
 NARRATION
the witness should be allowed to tell all he knows with little interruptions from the
investigator.
 INQUIRY
after all information have been given by the subject, that is the time for the investigator to as
question to clarify him about the case under investigation.

 CONCLUSIONS
after the interview, it is but proper to close the interview with outmost courtesy and thanking
the subject for his cooperation.

RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN QUESTIONING:

a. One question at a time
b. Avoiding implied answer
c. Simplicity of the questions
d. Saving faces
e. Avoid close ended questions (yes or no)

INTERROGATION
 is a questioning of a person suspected of having committed an offense or a person who is
reluctant to make full disclosure of information in his possession which is pertinent to the
investigation.
CDI-1: FUNDAMENTALS OF CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATION
What are the purposes of Interrogation?
a. To obtain confession to the crime
b. To induce the suspect to make admission
c. To learn the facts of the crime
d. To learn the identity of the accomplice
e. To develop information which will lead to the recovery of the fruits of the crime
f. To discover the details of other crimes participated by the suspect

INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES
 Emotional Appeal
Place the subject in the proper frame of mind. The investigator should provide emotional
stimuli that will prompt the subject to unburden himself by confiding. Analyze the subject’s
personality and decide what motivation would prompt him to tell the truth, and then provide
those motives through appropriate emotional appeals.

 Sympathetic appeal
The suspect may feel the need for sympathy or friendship when he is apparently in trouble.
Gestures of friendship may win his cooperation.

 Kindness
The simplest technique is to assume that the suspect will confess if he is treated in a kind and
friendly manner.

 Extenuation
The investigator indicates he does not consider his subject’s indiscretion a grave offense.

 Shifting the blame

The interrogator makes clear his belief that the subject is obviously not the sort of person who
usually gets mixed up in a crime like this. The interrogator could tell from the start that he
was not dealing with a fellow who is a criminal by nature and choice.

MUTT AND JEFF

Two (2) Agents are employed.
 Mutt, the relentless investigator, who is not going to waste any time because he
knows that the subject is guilty.
 Jeff, on the other hand, is obviously a kind-hearted man.

Bluff on a Split Pair

 This is applicable when there is more than one suspect. The suspects are separated and
one is informed that other has talked.

Pretense of Physical Evidence

 The investigator may pretend that certain physical evidence has found by laboratory
experts against him.

Jolting
 May be applied to calm and nervous subjects by constantly observing the suspects, the
investigator chooses a propitious moment to shout a pertinent question and appear as
though he is beside himself with rage. The subject may be unnerved to the extent of
confessing.

CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION/INVESTIGATION
CDI-1: FUNDAMENTALS OF CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATION
is the questioning of a law enforcement officer on a person under custody and otherwise
deprived of his freedom or liberty. This is the stage in investigation where there is strict
observance of the Miranda Doctrine.
MIRANDA DOCTRINE
this case which entitled Miranda vs. Arizona, is a US Supreme Court Jurisprudence which
laid down the constitutional rights of the accused during custodial investigation. It was
incorporated in our 1973 Constitution and later in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines.

3. INSTRUMENTATION
It is the application of instruments and methods of physical science to the detection of crimes.
In cases where there are no significant physical evidence to be found, then the use of
instrumentation is relatively unimportant.

PHASES/STAGES OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

1. Identification of criminals
2. Tracing and locating the criminal
3. Gathering of evidence to prove the guilt of the criminal

1. IDENTIFICATION OF CRIMINALS

METHODS OF IDENTIFYING CRIMINALS

a. By confession or admission of the criminal himself
b. Identification by accounts or testimonies of eyewitnesses
c. Identification by circumstantial evidence
d. Identification by associative evidence
e. Identification by the Method of Operation (Modus Operandi)

CONFESSION
 is the direct acknowledgement of guilt arising from the commission of a crime.

Types of Confession
a. Extra-Judicial Confession
 those made by the suspect during custodial investigation.
b. Judicial Confession
 those made by the accused in open court. The plea of guilt may be during
arraignment or in any stage of the proceedings where the accused changes his
plea of not guilty to guilty.

ADMISSION
 is a self-incriminatory statement by the subject falling short of an
acknowledgement of guilt. It is an acknowledgement of a fact or circumstances from which
guilt maybe inferred. It implicates but does not incriminate. It is also an acknowledgement
that a fact, action or circumstances are true which strongly infer or directly admit guilt but
lacks the detail of the elements of the crime.

RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN TAKING CONFESSION OR ADMISSION

1. Confession or admission must be taken preferably in writing and under oath
2. It must be written in the language known and understood by the accused, if not it must be
clearly translated
3. It must be freely and voluntary given by the accused
4. Under the New Constitution, it must be taken in the presence of competent and independent
counsel chosen by the accused

KINDS OF CRIMINALS IDENTIFIED BY WITNESSES

CDI-1: FUNDAMENTALS OF CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATION
a. Known criminals
b. Unknown criminals

Methods of Identification by witness

a. Verbal description
b. Photographic files (Rogues Gallery)
c. General Photograph
d. Artist sketch (Composite Criminal Illustration)

The value of identification by eyewitness depends on:

a. The ability to observe and remember distinct appearance of suspect;
b. Prevailing condition of visibility;
c. The lapse of time.

What are the procedures of identification by eyewitness?

a. Physical line-up
 is a means of selecting a suspect from a group of innocent persons usually composed
of seven to ten persons. The purpose of line-up is to eliminate the power of
suggestion.
b. Physical show-up
 only one person is shown to the witness usually at the scene of the crime and made
immediately after the arrest of the suspect.