Overview
Please respond to William with 150. words
Over the past five weeks I've noticed how the chapters we covered really come together. They illustrate how police work, and really the criminal justice process is about having the basics down. By documenting carefully, solid report writing, following search and seizure laws, and knowing the elements of a crime, you can have a sound foundation as a Police Officer or any other position within the criminal justice system.
The crime scene documentation chapter helped reinforce topics that I don't use in my day to day law enforcement job, as I do not work in a high crime position at this time. However this was a fresh reminder of how the documentation and record keeping can really make or break a case. Also that you don't want to get tunnel vision and hone in on evidence that points to one subject, but to get the whole picture and tell the whole story.
The report writing chapter really helped with providing some other report writing tips I can and have implemented at work since the start of this class. It pointed out that the "routine paperwork" can cause your case to be thrown out and you can lose credibility within your department, lawyers, the DA, and Judges. By writing a clear and factual report that is written in such a way that the average person would understand the situation allows us to eliminate jargon and make sense to everyone involved throughout the process. More importantly that if you save notes from a case, you should have all of your notes saved and accessible because they are discoverable in court.
When it comes to search and seizure, the 4th amendment protects privacy, but there are exceptions such as consent, vehicle searches, and exigent circumstances. This is always a good area to review and come back to because case law is ever-evolving on the topics. But reenforcing that officers need to balance through with lawful and ensure that your case isn't thrown away because of an illegal search. Be patient, don't cut corners, and when in doubt get the warrant, because the exclusionary rule means even strong evidence can get thrown out if it is collected illegally.
This weeks chapter, Chapter 14 was a great read. It shows how wide-ranging the crimes can be. Theft isn't just stealing a case of beer from the local convivence store or a vehicle. It includes much more organized retail crime rings, identity theft (seriously those people are the worst), embezzlement, and even environmental crimes. I was shocked by the amount of money that gets lost to these offenses and how digital investigations are able to lead to discovery of these crimes.
In short, my biggest take away is understanding that the attention to detail in policing means everything. From the initial crime scene security, to the investigators creating sketches, taking notes, recording video and audio. Which lead to the discovery of evidence and the discovery of the who, what, when, where, how, and possibly why. The details matter and you want to get it right the first time.