Crime detection, prevention, reduction, and control have remained burning issues because crime poses a significant threat to society, as criminals adopt increasingly sophisticated crime commission technologies.
Crime records hardly ever leave the crime unsolved. Successful crime detection reflects policing reality.
The main point of concern is what is required or the demand for more successful crime detection. Scientific organizations play a paramount role in detecting and prosecuting crime; otherwise, we will be at criminals’ mercy.
The detection of crime falls under three phases:
- discovering criminal conviction
- identifying the offender
- collecting pieces of evidence to indict the suspect before the criminal justice system.
The police are responsible for detecting the crime. But usually, it is victims or witnesses who discover and report it.
Forensic science plays a crucial role in crime investigations. In the field, achievements were made by developing unique techniques to identify the suspects (Rees, 2017). One of the remarkable methods is the spotting of the suspect by fingerprints.
Any contact between a finger and a surface can leave a mark that can be made visible by different procedures. It is regarded as full-proof evidence for criminal investigation as no two individuals have the same fingerprints. This technique is perceived as error-free.
Biological evidence like hair, blood can also be helpful to exclude a suspect. Many other substances (e.g., the physical context of the crime scene) can also yield considerable information.
More often, the suspects’ methods to commit a crime might be helpful to identify the offender.
Another essential part of solving the crime is an interrogation of the suspects. The purpose is to obtain a confession of guilt by the suspect. Though, many countries restricted this method as there is a greater probability of coercion.
Stronger links are required among the researchers and the crime prevention experts to locate more focused objectives.
The crime investigation agencies must necessitate forensic science to cope with the increased use of technologies to commit crimes.
The critical functions to be performed by the law enforcement personnel includes physical deterrence, public areas monitoring, responding to crimes, and forensic analysis.
Embracing new technologies help investigators to work more effectively. One example is intelligent video surveillance (IVS), a software that detects threats, events of crime in the video and ultimately generates alerts.
Reference
Rees, P.A. (2017). Crime Detection and Law Enforcement. doi: 10.1002/9781119288725.ch11