Name the steps in decision-making process and speak on some of them.

 

STAGES OF INVESTIGATION

The discovery that a crime has been committed sets off a chain of events leading to the capture of a suspect and the gathering of the evidence needed to convict that person.

The process of catching a suspect has three stages: detection of a crime, preliminary investigation and follow-up investigation. They may be followed by clearance and arrest.

1. Detection of a crime. Although patrol officers sometimes discover crimes, information that a crime has been committed comes in a call to the police.

2. Preliminary investigation. The first law official on the scene is usually a patrol officer. The officer helps the victim, secures the crime scene for investigation and documents the facts of the crime. If a suspect is present or nearby, the officer conducts a "hot" search and may apprehend the suspect. The officer must gather the basic facts including the name of the victim, a description of the suspect, and the names of the witnesses. After the information is collected, it goes to the investigation unit.

3. Follow-up investigation. After a preliminary investigation has been made, the detectives study the information and decide whether the crime can likely be solved. If the detectives decide that there is little chance of solving the crime quickly, the case may be dropped.

When the detectives decide that a full-scale investigation is warranted, a wider search – know as a "cold" search – for evidence or weapons is carried out. Witnesses may be questioned again, informants contacted and evidence gathered.

4. Clearance and arrest. The decision to arrest is a key part of the apprehension process. A crime is considered cleared when the evidence supports the arrest of a suspect. If a suspect admits having committed other unsolved crimes, those crimes are also "cleared". When a crime is cleared in police files, however, it does not always mean that the suspect will be found guilty.

Note:

if a suspect admits having committed other unsolved crimes – если подозреваемый сознается в совершении других нераскрытых преступлений

Vocabulary

apprehension n	задержание, арест
capture n v	поимка, ловить
clearance n	раскрытие преступления
convict n v	осужденный; признавать виновным
description n	описание
detection n	обнаружение
discover v	обнаруживать
event n	событие
experience n	опыт
file n	картотека, архив
investigation n preliminary ~ follow-up ~ full-scale ~	расследование предварительное расследование вторичный этап расследования полное расследование
locate v	определять местонахождения
occur v	случаться, происходить
search n v	поиск, обыск, расследование; искать, обыскивать
secure v	охранять
set off v	отмечать, побуждать
support n v	поддержка; подтверждать
warrant v	служить основанием

 

Exercises

Read and translate the words.

discovery, commit, evidence, leading, catch, stage, preliminary, clearance, help, gather, description, witness, solve, admit, victim, hot, question, decision, cold, mean, guilty, identify, experience, technical department, support, small, involve, become, report, mainly, basis, prosecution, may, serious, occur, case, prosecute, prepare, search, information.

Match the English and Russian equivalents.

1. preliminary	a) подтверждать
2. victim	b) раскрытие преступления
3. prosecution	c) проводить расследование
4. occur	d) расследование по "горячим" следам
5. capture	e) раскрыть преступление
6. case	f) предварительный
7. be present	g) отдел
8. conduct investigation	h) осудить
9. department	i) присутствовать
10. convict	j) судебное дело
11. hot search	k) поимка
12. drop a case	l) отказаться от иска
13. solve a crime	m) пострадавший
14. clearance	n) случаться
15. support	o) обвинение

Match the words from the two columns.

commit	officer
gather	a crime
detect	witnesses
criminal	guilty
patrol	an offender
preliminary	unit
'hot"	investigation
catch	criminal
"cold"	a suspect
apprehend	the arrest
find	search
follow-up	evidence
support
investigation
question

Match the synonyms.

1. basic	a) happen
2. unit	b) opportunity
3. needed	c) gather
4. secure	d) main
5. apprehension	e) assist
6. collect	f) arrest
7. chance	g) "cleared"
8. occur	h) department
9. solved	i) protect
10. help	j) necessary

Match the antonyms.

1. solved	a) exclude
2. more	b) cold
3. guilty	c) absent
4. offender	d) innocent
5. apprehend	e) release
6. include	f) minor-crime
7. quickly	g) less
8. serious crime	h) victim
9. present	i) unsolved
10. hot	j) slowly

Complete the sentences.

1. The process of catching a suspect has three stages: …

a) interrogating witnesses, suspects and criminals

b) detection of a crime, preliminary investigation, and follow-up investigation

c) protecting a crime scene, gathering evidence and taking fingerprints

2. The first law official on the scene is usually ….

a) an offender.

b) a defendant.

c) a patrol officer.

3. After the information is collected, ….

a) the officer goes home.

b) the suspect is released.

c) it goes to the investigation unit.

4. A crime is considered cleared when ….

a) the evidence supports the arrest of the suspect.

b) the suspect runs away.

c) all the witnesses are questioned.

5. The officer must gather the basic facts including …

a) appearance of the victim.

b) the name of the victim, a description of the suspect and the names of the witnesses.

c) address of the suspect.

6. The officer helps …, secures ….

a) the offender; the witnesses.

b) the victim; the crime scene.

c) the suspect; his office.