Investigations
The Investigations topic area furnishes cops with the latest news, information and strategies used in closing a case and putting bad guys behind bars. This touches on everything that happens between the suspect’s crimes to the final conviction.
Why do we still rely on human observation to recognize deception in criminal investigations?
With the right approach, officers can use tools they already have to track, catch online criminals
A pivotal 2020 case examines how TASER logs and video footage can impact an ongoing debate surrounding police use of force
“I would not be surprised if we increase the department by doubling it in the next five years. I think the data is telling us that we’re moving that quickly.”
Popularly known as the “lie detector,” the polygraph seized headlines and was extolled in movies, TV and comics as an infallible crime-fighting tool
Bryan Christopher Kohberger is being held for extradition to Idaho on a warrant for first degree murder
The video detective squads take advantage of the more than 56,000 public and private surveillance cameras in the city
As paramedics were treating the suspect, he can be heard on video yelling, “I shot that b***h in her face”
Paperwork, computers, fingerprint machines, printers, weapons, ballistic vests and gun belts for the department’s officers were destroyed
Virginia’s governor has asked the state’s IG to investigate the hiring of Austin Lee Edwards, who killed the grandparents and mother of a girl he “catfished” online
The suspect was shooting into an occupied dwelling before aiming his gun at officers and threatening to shoot them, forcing police to open fire
“I have video of you drinking and getting into your county car. We are watching you closely,” said one message sent to the investigator
Officers had recovered a “high capacity handgun” during the suspect’s initial arrest, but he was in possession of a second hidden gun on his body
The officer, who responded to a call about a woman being stabbed, heard screams before encountering a man armed with a knife
Evidence shows the teen fired at officers first after shooting six people, fatally wounding five; the suspect later died due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound
BWC video shows the suspect pull a handgun from his waist and shoot an officer twice, hitting him in the body before another officer returned fire
A death report did reveal “concerning issues with the culture” of the training facility, including “hazing” and a “lack of helpful cooperation in the investigation”
Body cam footage shows one officer was still interacting with the woman when she shot him once in the head from her driver’s seat
The charges range from negligent homicide to malfeasance in the fatal arrest of Ronald Greene
True investigations are concluded primarily upon tried and true methods that have been in use for decades
Once the fire is under control, police property specialists will go inside and see what has been destroyed and what can be salvaged
It’s unclear if Virginia State Police asked any follow-up questions once Austin Lee Edwards disclosed his past mental health difficulties
Witness-relocation efforts have previously relied on homicide detectives pulling cash out of their own pockets and pooling together funds
At the time of the incident, Austin Lee Edwards had been employed with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department for less than 2 weeks
DNA from a bullet casing recovered from a homicide scene matched a DNA profile that had been mistakenly entered into the database
The child’s naked, badly bruised body was originally found back in 1957 inside a JCPenney bassinet box in a wooded area
The “error resulted in an incomplete database query during Edwards’ hiring process,” said a Virginia State Police spokeswoman
Identifying suspects with DNA while they are still in custody: How the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab and East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office developed the nation’s first rapid DNA booking station
Video shows the officer trying to subdue a woman, who grabs at a gun in her waistband several times; another suspect then walks toward the officer, pointing a gun at him
The serial killer, already convicted of 11 homicides, took a plea deal for one of the five killings, avoiding prosecution for the other four
Mary O’Connor submitted her resignation after an internal affairs review found she violated police department policy during the Nov. 12 stop
George Loder raised concerns about data gathering by the Maine Intelligence Analysis Center, which shares information it collects with other LE agencies
An officer suffered a “through and through wound” after being shot in the neck by a handcuffed suspect who was being taken to jail
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