An in-depth analysis into what hinders and helps homicide investigations

Abstract

Homicides, an intriguing yet gruesome technique of resolving conflicts, have been used for many years on end. It is indeed a life and death situation for the people involved, yet it sparks the interest of those that are not involved. Homicides are heinous acts which unfortunately are becoming more common now a days. Investigating such crimes is not as easy as TV shows might make it look, in fact, there are a lot of aspects that go into investigating such cases. After analysing what goes into having a successful homicide investigation, as well as the procedures that investigators have to follow, this dissertation aims at underlying the different aspects that might hinder and help during a homicide investigation. Through interviews previously conducted, the aim was to gather a more in-depth analysis of how a homicide investigation is carried out, namely before, during and after the investigation, and what problems may arise during it. Another aim was to gather information regarding the different types of investigation techniques, as well as the level of training that police officers might have to go through, if any, in order to become investigators themselves. The purpose of this dissertation was to gather as much information as possible regarding how homicides are investigated, in order to get a much better sense of what aspects aids and hinders police officers during their investigation process. The findings provided the researcher with the answers to the questions mentioned above. One aspect that caught the researcher’s eye was the excessive difference between the number of features that police officers find helpful compared to features that are of hinderance. In fact, participants mentioned more negative features than positive ones. This goes to show the amount of pressure and lack of resources that police officer have to go through locally.