Private and Public

Private and Public Criminal Investigation Comparison Paper

Name

SEC430

Date

Professor

Private and Public Criminal Investigation Comparison Paper

Police officers are public officials that have a legal and ethical duty to members of the public including the suspect in a criminal investigation. Private security investigators are hired by a business or organization and are not held to the high legal and ethical standard faced by the police but they also do not have the same power of discretion. Law enforcement is responsible for investigating crimes that occur within their jurisdiction while private security investigates legal, financial, and company matters. Public criminal investigation involve the search for a criminal that if identified will be arrested and tried for the crime while private investigation involve developing enough information to alert law enforcement of a crime.

Differences and Similarities between Sectors

The criminal investigation involves public officials hired by the state. The private investigation involves private security personnel hired to investigate different aspect for an organization. The public criminal investigator of the crime is a member of law enforcement and has the authority to investigate the crime from the state where they work. The criminal investigation begins once a crime has been reported or discovered by the police. Once the investigator arrives on scene they will be required to follow procedures outlined by their police department as well as follow the law when conducting their investigation. Once police develop a criminal suspect they must adhere to the law to ensure any evidence that is obtained is not excluded from the court process (Vessel, 2011). Once private security personnel develop a suspect for a crime they must alert the police.

Police officers are restricted in their actions based on the civil liberties of the criminal suspect. When conducting searches for evidence, law enforcement must not conduct illegal searches to ensure evidence is not excluded and the rights of the offender are not violated. Police officers must also ensure when a criminal suspect will be interrogated that they are read their Miranda Rights in order to ensure any testimony provided by the suspect is not excluded from the court process. Private criminal investigators do not have the same restrictions and as long as they do not violate the law are not subject to the same rule and regulation as the police.

The Exclusionary rule was created to ensure if police violate the rights of the defendants any evidence that is obtained can be excluded from the court process resulting in a guilty offender going free. Criminal investigators must also adhere to the uniform standards established when investigating and collecting evidence. This includes documenting the evidence when located and protecting the evidence from becoming damaged, lost, or destroyed. Evidence collected by private investigators will not be excluded if obtained illegally as long as the evidence was not collected at the instruction of the police (BJS, 2012).

Criminal investigators work in highly structured work environments that are hierarchal in structure and require police officers to follow a chain of command. While police officers are provided with a great deal of discretion in the field they must follow the order of and answer to their direct superior. Many private criminal investigators work for an organization that is hierarchal and are also required to follow a chain of command but not in all cases. Police officers are also restricted to certain jurisdictions when conducting criminal investigation while the private sector is not under the same restrictions.

Situations where Private and Public Investigators Interact

The first situation in which a private and public investigator would need to interact is when the public investigator identified a crime at their firm. For example when a theft occurs at an organization the private investigator can investigate must report their finding to the police or report the crime to the police and conduct their own investigation. When private security conducts their investigation and identifies a potential criminal suspect they cannot arrest the suspect but must report the suspect to police if they want criminal charges pressed against the suspect.

The second situation would involve a police investigation where police require the cooperation of private investigators in order to solve the crime. For example if a crime occurred at a large organization police would require assistance from the private sector or security in the organization to solve the crime. For example in a theft police may require information about employee movement or might need to view security videos. The information provided by the private investigator could be essential to solving the crime.

Scientific Methods used by both Sectors to Investigate Crimes

The public criminal sector investigates crime using the scientific method when investigating crimes. The scientific method is responsible for the development of many different scientific processes used to solve crimes. This includes but is not limited to the development of fingerprints, DNA, ballistic evidence, and the steps taken to collect and analysis evidence that has been collected. In the private sector the scientific method is applied to new technology developed to reduce the opportunity for loss for the organization and to secure property and persons. Through the use of the scientific method both the private and public sector have developed tools to simplify criminal investigations and to assist in identifying the criminal suspect.

Challenges or Potential Issues of Investigations that Cross Jurisdictions

All law enforcement agencies are confined to a specific jurisdiction in which they have the authority to act. When a crime occurs in one jurisdiction but involves an offender from another jurisdiction the police of the jurisdiction where the crime have jurisdiction but in cases where a crime is committed that crosses state borders determining who has jurisdiction can be difficult. When a crime crosses jurisdictions then another agency will need to step in and conduct the investigation and take authority over the criminal suspects. For example if the crime crosses sate lines the FBI steps in and take jurisdiction of the case while in cases that cross county lines state police will be responsible for investigating, in most cases.

In the public vs. the private criminal investigation the police have total jurisdiction over the crime and the private criminal investigator can investigate but it is up to the police if they will in fact cooperate. Private investigators do not have the same restriction as police in investigating crimes that occur in a different jurisdiction but they also do not have the same authority to investigate crimes and collect evidence. If private investigators refuse to cooperate with police by providing evidence that has been located in a different jurisdiction it can make it more difficult for police to identify and arrest a criminal suspect.

The same would be true if police failed to assist private criminal investigators in their investigations because they do not have access to the same technologies as police. Police officers have access to crime labs that develop evidence and provide investigators with answers. If police take total jurisdiction over the crime and refuse to cooperate with the private crime investigator it will make it more difficult for them to solve the crime in order to take action against the offender.

Actual Case

One case involving both public and private criminal investigators involved a criminal offender walking into a mall and killing three of the security staff. Because the criminal offender did not kill any shoppers and only targeted security personnel police required their assistance in the investigation in order to develop evidence and to locate the suspect on the malls security system. Through the video surveillance equipment of the security staff police were able to get an image of the killer while private investigators for the mall discovered the identity of the offender when interviewing employees at the mall (Motyl, 2012). Through the efforts of the private investigator and the police the case was successfully solved and the offender was charged and tried for the three murders.

References

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2012). Private Detectives and Investigators. Occupational Outlook

Handbook. Retrieved November 12, 2012 from

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/private-detectives-and-investigators.htm

Motyl, A. (2012). Police identify suspect in killing security guards in Karavan mall. Retrieved

November 12, 2012 from http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv/police-identify-suspect-in

Vessel, D. (2011). Conducting Investigation and Interrogation. Retrieved November 12, 2012

from http://www.crimeandclues.com/index.php/criminal-investigation/interview