Tag Search Result: Field Interviews

In cases involving gang violence, get to the scene quickly, find the witnesses, and document who these witnesses are and what they say. Then if gang members do change their version of events, at least it can be explained why this person did what he or she did.

Simply put, the more information you have in a case, the better your chances of solving it. While this is common knowledge to most officers, we tend to forget that using field contacts is one of the easiest ways of gaining intelligence in our own cities.

In a major criminal investigation, getting off your ass and knocking on some doors is essential. In fact, it is a crucial element in the early stages of working an unsolved case. The area canvass-knocking on the doors of all the residences surrounding the crime scene-is one of the first tasks a lead detective should have on his lead sheet.

Working perimeters can be tedious, but it’s important that we remember the basics of this role.

Getting the case to court and obtaining a favorable decision by the bench or jury is always the goal in a gang investigation. And one of the greatest assets to any case is, of course, the witnesses.